


Nightmares and Invasions

by ProbablytherealDeaththeKid



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Depression, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, If you read this you're a masochist, Implied/Referenced Torture, Mild Blood, POV Alternating, POV Dib (Invader Zim), POV First Person, POV Gaz, POV Zim (Invader Zim), Pain, Post-Canon, Psychological Torture, Sad with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-22
Updated: 2020-03-02
Packaged: 2020-10-25 16:01:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 41,133
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20726912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProbablytherealDeaththeKid/pseuds/ProbablytherealDeaththeKid
Summary: Now that Christmas is over, Zim has come up with a new plan to get Dib out of his way. He accuses Dib of being insane, sending him straight to the Crazy House for Boys. Dib has to struggle to keep his mind intact while Zim rejoices in the fact that Dib can no longer bother him. Gaz is enjoying her newfound quiet time at home, but she can't shake the feeling that something is wrong.





	1. Dib: Not This Again

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, everyone! Got a new work here for Invader Zim! I will outright say that I had a lot of help writing Zim's dialogue from MetasActReon, and he also titled the chapters because I suck at creating titles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright! So an awesome person on this site has created cover art for this fic, so I thought I'd share it with y'all. It was posted on Deviant Art, and here's the link to the great fan art! Their screen name is SparkleForever on there and FelineGood on here! Be sure to send them your love! I send them mine!
> 
> https://www.deviantart.com/sparkleforever/art/Nightmares-and-Invasions-Cover-Art-Gift-838139419

"He's an alien! Why can't you all see that?" I shouted. I lost count of how many times I had yelled those same words months ago, but it doesn't matter. They had to believe me. Sooner or later, Zim would reveal himself.

The entire class collectively groaned and slouched in their seats, Miss Bitters stared us all down with contempt, and Zim just looked at me, smirking while resting his elbow on his desk and supporting his green head with his clawed hand. "How many times must I say this, Big Head? I am a normal human worm baby," he taunted.

"Yeah, Dib!" someone from the class shouted.

"Get off the desk!"

"Believe it or not, but actually learning something would be better than this!"

I was about to just shrug it off and obsess about it later like I always do, but then Zim suddenly sat up, his smirk disappearing from his expression before returning again. Only it was ten times deeper and ten times more mischievous than before.

Zim rushed up onto his own desk and pointed one of his long, clawed fingers towards Miss Bitters. "Old Bat Teacher!" he called even louder than me. "I invoke the Crazy Card!"

"Are you sure, Zim?" she questioned, though it sounded more like a statement than a question--the same way all of her questions sound. Her long, black-clothed arm slithered under her desk and opened a drawer. "We only get three Crazy Cards a month. Do you want to use it on Dib?"

Zim slunk back down into his chair, not taking his beady eyes off of me. "I'm sure, Miss Bitters. I've put up with Planet-Sized Head Dib and his accusations long enough. There was even a documentary that questioned his sanity," he announced in his annoyingly high pitched voice.

I had only spent a few hours in that asylum last time, and I never wanted to go back. Granted, most of the time, I was trapped inside and alternate dimension that my own mind created, but still. That only made it worse.

"Very well, Zim," Bitters agreed.

I jumped off of my desk as our shadow of a teacher approached me, Crazy Collar in hand. I backed away from her, but she only advanced faster and faster. I turned from her and ran. Luckily, I'm younger than her by...a lot of years, I'm sure, so I have more endurance. I can keep this up longer than she can. But she was still faster than I expected, and running in circles around the other students while they cheered and Zim laughed maniacally was getting me nowhere--literally and figuratively.

As Bitters' cloaked form loomed over me, I ducked down and slid under Zim's desk and to the door. "Hey!" Zim shouted after me. "Watch where you're sliding, Earth thing!"

I stopped for a split second and turned back to him and the rest of the class. "See! If Zim is human, why would he call a fellow human an 'Earth thing'?"

Bitters materialized in front of me and thrust the Collar towards me, but I ducked under her reach and took off down the hall. I didn't get far before something hit me in the back of my neck with enough force to push me to the ground. Whatever hit me wrapped around my throat like a relentless snake. I reached up to try to pry it off, but it was cold and hard, and the blinking red light coming from below my range of vision told me that they had gotten the Collar onto me. It wouldn't be long until they came to cart me off again.

"Don't bother running anymore, Dib," someone ordered. I easily recognized the voice as Miss Bitters. I turned around to find her standing above me with her arm out and the entire class behind her. She must have thrown the Collar. I had always suspected that there was something supernatural about her, too. Who on Earth could throw this thick, heavy, and unbalanced thing with enough accuracy to get it onto someone's neck? "I think I'm not just speaking for the class or the school, but practically the entire city when I say that we've had enough of your insanity," she continued.

Zim came out from behind her as the students cheered. He folded his arms and stared at me with one of the most smug looks.

I grumbled as I got up again. These Collars contained a GPS tracker, so it wasn't like I could hide, and these people had resources that outmatched mine a million to one, so I couldn't run either. I could resign to this or fight. When I fought the last time, it didn't make a difference, but it was still better than resigning myself to them.

A window shattered, and a door burst open, sending shards of wood and glass in every direction. People in armored suits closed in on me from every side. They poured through the broken window and door and marched up the hallway. They all grabbed for me at once, but I ducked away, keeping myself just out of their reach.

I backed up further and further until I ran into something. Something with clawed hands that dug into my skin forced my arms behind my back. "Here. I'll help you!" Zim offered loudly before lowering his voice to speak just to me. "See you never, Dib," he spat.

It was obvious that he had planned this, but him practically admitting to it didn't make me any less angry.

I shouted as they grabbed me and dragged me away from the class and out of the school. Zim's evil laughter echoed even outside. I struggled against them as they forced me into another white straight jacket, but they were much stronger than I was. They wrestled me into the jacket and threw me into the back of their van. I landed on the cushioned floor, and the door slammed closed behind me. I struggled to get myself to stand up again, and after a minute or so, I managed to right myself. Only to be thrown to the floor again as the van started to move.

I was bumped around the entire van for what seemed like hours. It felt like whoever was driving this thing was driving rough on purpose. My dad had called me crazy enough that part of me grew worried that he'd actually send me away like this, so in a fit of midnight paranoia, I had worked out a way to get out of a straight jacket. I never thought that I'd have to use it, but it did come in handy during the whole alternate-universe-based-off-my-imagination thing. I had plenty of opportunity to get out of this jacket the last time, but the van wasn't stable enough. Every time I got to my feet to get out of it, I was thrown back down to the floor or into a wall. "Hey! You think you could drive a little smoother? I'm getting tossed around like a rag doll in here," I requested.

"We're not going to let you work your way out of that thing and escape like last time, Dib," one of the people up front responded.

Great. So they're going to be on high-alert when it comes to me this time. I might not have an opportunity to escape. Especially if they keep driving like this.

After what felt like an eternity of flailing around as I tried to work my way out of this jacket, the van finally stopped. As soon as everything settled, I got to my feet and started to make progress on the jacket. I had gotten the sleeves undone so that my arms weren't strapped to my sides anymore. I tried to worm my way out of the rest of it, but the door was thrown open before I could.

I gasped and froze as they laid eyes on me. I could fight them better because my arms weren't restrained, but my hands were still tied together. There wasn't much I could do because I'd basically just be waving my sleeves at them like a child in pajamas that were too big for him.

After a few seconds of hesitation as they tried to figure out how I was working my way out of this thing, one of the drivers charged at me. He was so large in stature that he barely fit inside. He reached for me, but I dropped to the floor and scrambled forward as best as I could. I got past him and rolled out onto the ground. I forced myself up and started to run, but I was grabbed from behind and dragged back towards the van. People in lab coats surrounded me and others held me down while they re-secured the straight jacket I had undone.

I struggled against them, but it was no use. They held firm and dragged me into the Crazy House for Boys. Once inside, they strapped me to a bed and wheeled me quickly down the darkened hall. I didn't have the strength to push against the straps that were keeping me secured to the bed and the straight jacket all at once, but I couldn't give up. I didn't know what they would do to me if I stayed here.

By the time they had brought me to the same evaluation room as last time, my muscles were so exhausted that I couldn't fight anymore. They attached the electrodes to my head and displayed my brain waves on monitors for the council that was surrounding me on the level above. They could see how panicked I was. If not from looking at me, then from looking at those monitors. That wasn't good. I had to calm down and appear normal so that they would let me go.

I took deep breaths to try to calm my racing heart as the same man who asked me questions last time approached the bed I was strapped to. "Dib, this is your second visit with us. Last time, you claimed that one of your classmates was an alien from outer space. Do you still believe this?"

Of course I did. How could I not? There was too much evidence. I wanted to explain it like I always do, but I forced the words down. I couldn't say anything. If I told the truth, they would keep me here for who knows how long, and if I lied, I would get caught. These people were psychologists, psychiatrists and everything in between. It would be easy for them to catch me in a lie.

"The silent treatment this time, Dib?" the same man said, turning to the monitors. "You're smart. Smart enough to recognize that you need help, I hope. You'll do no one any good by staying quiet."

I held my ground and said nothing.

"No matter," the man sighed as the turned back to me. "We bought the child you accused here to testify."

The man looked upwards into the blinding lights, and I followed his gaze, watching as Zim came out of the darkness. My hands fisted in resentment, and my heart rate and breathing accelerated again.

"It is true, brain doctor!" Zim agreed. "Dib," he spat my name, "has been accusing me of being an _alien_ since I had arrived on this planet--I mean in this town! And he did so again today, standing upon his desk and yelling it to the sky!"

"No, I didn't!" I yelled back, straining to prevent the council from listening to him. A small shock from the electrodes around my head made me hiss.

"Dib," the doctor with me began, "the electrodes shocked you because you lied. Therefore, for the second time, we declare you crazy, and you shall remain here either until we determine that you are cured or for the rest of your life."

"What?" I exclaimed. I thought I did it right this time. I stayed silent, but Zim. "No!" I yelled as I was wheeled away again, taken deeper in to the Crazy House than I have ever been with Zim's laughter echoing after me.


	2. Gaz: Well, That Happened

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so you guys know, we will be switching perspectives between characters each chapter. This chapter is from Gaz's perspective.

I held my Game Slave under the desk with the sound turned off, playing my game as the teacher droned on and on like he always does. Nothing interesting ever happens in this school. Unless you count Dib accusing Zim of being an alien, but that's normal. Especially since he's acted that way since he was born.

A bang sounded outside, but I ignored it. The teacher stopped talking, and the class rushed to the door to try and see out of the small window to get a peak at what was going on.

"Don't bother running anymore, Dib," someone suggested. I recognized the voice as Dib's old teacher, Miss Bitters. "I think I'm not just speaking for the class or the school, but practically the entire city when I say that we've had enough of your insanity."

Dib was getting accused of being insane? Yep. Just another day being Dib's sister.

A window shattered, and more banging sounded, making me jump and hit a wrong button on my Game Slave. The boss of the level took advantage of my accidental move and released his fire-breath. I was already at less than half health, so that was the final blow. I died. Are you kidding me, Dib? Again? This is the second time that you caused me to lose to a boss!

I growled and got up from my seat, storming towards the door. I shoved people out of my way and threw the door open, only to be greeted by the sight of several people holding Dib down and dragging him out the front door of the school. Dib's class, my entire class and I followed the people out to the front of the school and watched from the porch as Dib struggled to fight against being put in a straight jacket. He lost quickly and was thrown in the back of a van.

A low and menacing chuckle reached my ears, and I glanced towards its source, finding Zim rubbing his clawed hands together. He caused Dib to be taken back to the Crazy House? Cool. Maybe they'll make him less annoying while he's there.

One of the people who took Dib away came up to us on the porch and asked, "Who did Dib accuse of being an alien this time?"

"Him again," Miss Bitters answered, pointing directly at Zim. "It's always him."

The man glanced down towards Zim and said, "Then maybe you should come with us. This is the second time he's been sent to the Crazy House, so we might need a witness to the event. I don't think that he'll be too keen on talking this time."

"You mean, _I_ get the job of insuring that Dib gets to stay in your House of Crazy?" Zim wondered, his high-pitched voice filling with excitement. "Of course, I accept. I will come with you." Zim stepped off of the porch and practically skipped to the second car that the people had brought with them. Zim got in as the van took off with Dib inside, and the second car went after them.

As soon as both vehicles had disappeared from sight, Miss Bitters ordered, "Alright everyone. Back to class."

Everyone went back inside, and I followed them. Dib was at the Crazy House again, but like last time, something would probably happen, and they'll let Dib go. But for some reason, this felt different. I didn't know why, but it seemed different.

I shook my head as I sat back down in my seat. Dib's paranoia must be rubbing off on me. I powered my Game Slave back up and resumed to where I last saved the game. I just need to take my mind off of it. Dib will be fine. He'll come out of he Crazy House as annoying as ever.


	3. Zim: Sweet, Succulent Success

"AHAHAHAHA!" I laughed the instant I walked through the front door of my headquarters, GIR joining in as he normally does. "This plan is perfect, GIR! Dib is stuck in the House of Crazy! And as long as I keep antagonizing him, he will be forced to remain there forever! AHAHAHA!"

"Dodeedodeedo," GIR laughed before suddenly stopping. "But what if he doesn't like it there?" He started sniffing. "He'll be all alone."

"I don't care, GIR!" I yelled. "Dib will not interfere with my plans any longer! I just need to figure out how secure the place is so that I can sneak in and bother him in the middle of the night. GIR!"

GIR's blue eyes flashed red, and he hopped off of the couch, saluting me. "Yes, sir."

"Watch the house," I ordered. "I'll be using the telescope to scout out the House of Crazy."

I left GIR alone and moved to the kitchen, opening up the trash can lid and hopping inside. I traveled to my underground lab and ran to the telescope, ripping off my disguise as I went. "Huh. I wonder if it's a good idea to leave GIR up there alone," I muttered, thinking of all of the other times I had left him alone. "I'm sure it'll be fine. I've reinforced everything. It's not like he can break anything."

I activated the telescope and looked through it, scanning the town until I found a building with a sign out front that read "The Crazy House for Boys." There was a van parked outside, and it was surrounded by a fence, but it didn't look all that secure. I could easily break in like I did to return that DVD to the mall.

Us Irkens have eliminated mental issues like insanity. Our PAKs regulate the neurotransmitters in our brains, so we don't have need for a center for the crazies like this anymore. Humans aren't so lucky. "All I have to do is surprise him, get him to scream, and they'll keep him there forever," I said, fisting my hand in excitement and determination. "AHAHAHA!"

* * *

My PAK was secure, I had my tools, GIR was locked inside. Everything was in place for tonight. I traveled through the city over the rooftops with the extended, mechanical legs of my PAK. I laughed in anticipation. I couldn't wait to see Dib's face when he screamed. I'd just have to go back every now and then to make him scream some more, and then they'd never let him out of the House of Crazy! I'd be free to conquer this pathetic planet!

After about a half hour, I landed on a roof that was across the street from the Crazy House for Boys. My lips twitched upwards as I climbed down. I rushed across the street and retracted the legs of my PAK once I made it through the building's perimeter fence. I circled the cement building slowly, peering into each window in search of him.

He wasn't on level one, so I brought my PAK's mechanical legs back out and climbed the cement wall to check level two, and then three. Finally, on level three, I found him.


	4. Dib: Unwanted Visitor

I renewed my fight as they wheeled me away. I strained to pull my arms apart like I did in the van, but the straps that were keeping me secured to the bed were restricting my movement too much. I couldn't get out. I would be stuck here forever. I'm not crazy. They said that I'd be held here until I was "cured", but you can't cure what you don't have.

They took me into an elevator and up to level three--"Treatment Level" as the button was labeled. They pushed me down another dark hallway and stopped outside of a blank, wooden door. One of the people around me opened the door, revealing a small room that had nothing inside except a bed. They undid the straps that kept me bound, picked me up and took me inside. They threw me down onto the bed, and one kept me secured while another undid the straight jacket.

The second that my arms were freed, I pulled against them. My sudden movement managed to get me out of the hold of the one holding me down, but I wasn't fast enough. The third doctor snatched up my hand and slapped a handcuff to my wrist. He secured the other end to the metal guardrail on the side of the bed. The second doctor keeping me here lifted my other arm and held out my wrist. I fought against him, but he was too strong for me. The doctor handcuffed my wrist to the other guardrail, and then the three of them let me go.

"Your treatment will begin tomorrow morning," the one who handcuffed me informed. "Get some rest. You clearly need it." With that, the three of them walked out and closed the door behind them, the sound of a click coming a second later meaning that they had locked the door.

I sighed and fell down against the bed. What happened? I thought I had fought hard enough. If only I was older. Then I could have fought against them better.

I glanced out the window that clearly didn't have any way to open it. The sun was setting. The drive here must have taken longer than I thought. It was probably about seven or seven thirty at night.

I looked up at the blank ceiling. What were they going to do to me? They would try to convince me that aliens didn't exist, of course, but how. Drugs? Conditioning? I had to keep my mind intact, but I didn't know how. If I knew exactly what they were going to do to me, it would be easier, but I don't.

But I don't care what they do. I will keep my own mind, and I will fight against whatever it is that they'll try. They are not going to do this to me. That doctor was right, though. A well rested mind will be the best defense I have against them, but it took me hours to fall asleep. The freezing cold air and unyielding metal around both of my wrists made it seem like they were trying to make sure that I wouldn't sleep, but eventually, I drifted off.

A tapping on my window made me jump and wake up. I sat up as quickly as I could in my binds and looked towards the window. There was nothing out there.

After a minute of two of staring outside, I was about to go back to sleep, thinking that I had dreamed the noise, but then a blur of green and pink burst through the window, shattering it to pieces. I turned away from the flying glass to protect myself, but then an instantly recognizable voice made me look back. "Good to see you, Dib. How you like it here so far?"

"Zim," I growled, looking up at him. The mechanical legs extending from his pack made him tower over me. Luckily, the chains of the handcuffs were long enough to allow me to stand up on the bed, but that didn't make much of a difference in height. "What are you doing here? Coming to see if you plan worked?"

Zim crossed his arms and raised a condescending eyebrow at me. "As long as they keep you here, my plan will have worked. It doesn't matter what they do to you, just as long as they keep you out of my way."

He leaned down towards me so that we were on eye level. I had seen him without his human disguise before, but his large, pink, double-pupil eyes were still unsettling. I growled to shove down my nerves, pulling against the handcuffs so hard that they dug painfully into my skin. "They won't keep me here because I'm not crazy! Face it, Zim. This plan will fail just like all of the rest of them!"

"AHAHAHA!" he laughed, his mechanical legs extending back to their full height. "But will it, Dib?"

His hand shot forward as he threw something at me. The pain in my wrist suddenly vanished. I glanced down and found that the blade Zim threw at me had cut the binds and planted itself into the thin mattress. Why would he let me go?

Footsteps thundered in the hallway, and Zim and I both glanced towards it. "Sorry, Dib," he said with fake sympathy, "but that sounds like my cue to leave."

Zim used his mechanical legs to quickly jump back out of the window like a spider. I picked up the blade Zim threw at me and rushed towards the broken window and watched him hop over the rooftops of the city. I raised the blade and aimed for him. I was about to throw it when the door burst open behind me.

The same three doctors who locked me in here ran inside and quickly glanced at the broken cuffs dangling from my wrists, the blade in my hand and the shattered glass on the floor. The doctor in the front took a small remote out from the pocket of his lab coat. "Looks like we're going to have to get a jump start on your course of treatment," he muttered, raising he remote.

I took a wary step back towards the broken window and dropped Zim's blade, suddenly terrified. I could guess how this looked to them, but that didn't mean it was true. Zim was trying to keep me here indefinitely, which means that he's going to try and make me look as insane as possible. Getting me to scream, and doing who knows what else.

The doctor pressed a button on the remote in his hand, and a searing pain wracked my body, coming from the collar around my neck. I instinctively grabbed for it and tried to pry it off, but the pain was quickly draining my strength.

The two doctors behind the one with the remote rushed at me. I tried to dodge their hands, but my vision was rapidly becoming blurred, and the pain was making it difficult to focus and even more difficult to move. It was like I was being stabbed in the neck with a thousand different electric bolts. It was so paralyzing that I couldn't even scream.

I fell to the floor and one of the doctors--or both. I couldn't tell--picked me up from the ground and carried me out the door, throwing me down onto another one of those hospital beds that they used to bring me here. They didn't strap me down this time, and I didn't think that they needed to. The pain from the collar was keeping me in place well enough. I couldn't focus on where they were taking me. It was just a long blur of white walls and dark hallways. Eventually, the paralyzing pain ended, finally allowing me to relax and focus enough to see where I was, not that there was much to see anyways. The room was so dark that I couldn't see anything except vague, human silhouettes around me. The silhouettes came towards me, and I tried to raise my arms to fight them, but I could barely raise myself up, let alone push them away.

The people easily grabbed me and held me in place while another person strapped me down. As soon as they let go of me, a blindingly bright light was turned on and shone directly in my face. "Now, Dib," a deep voice came, "you're here because you believe aliens to be real, but they are not."

Of course aliens are real. Zim was just here five minutes ago without his human disguise. This was their plan? To just say that aliens aren't real? It's not going to work. "I'm not crazy," I muttered.

The voice laughed darkly. "Of course you are. Why else would you be here?"

I tried to squint past the bright light to see who was speaking, but all I could see was the outline of a lab coat and a pair of goggles, or glasses, or whatever they were.

"But don't worry," the voice continued. "We'll fix you."


	5. Zim: Victory Laugh

I was finally back down in my lab, laughing my head off at the ridiculous expression Dib had on his face when I showed up. He looked so dumbfounded! But that didn't matter. I had watched what happened to Dib though the window with binoculars from my PAK. I had succeeded in making him look even more crazy than he already was. Now I just need to make it look like he's getting worse. I'll need to infiltrate the House of Craziness more frequently, but that won't be a problem.

"Come, GIR!" I ordered, walking towards my communication monitor. "We must contact the Tallest to report on our progress."

"Okay!" GIR shouted in response, skipping ahead of me to the monitor's controls and pressing several buttons and making the screen activate and show static.

I rushed over and shoved him off of the control panel. "No, GIR! This is highly sensitive equipment."

"Aww," the robot moaned. "But I wanted to watch TV."

"Why don't you go do that upstairs?" I suggested.

"Okay!" GIR shouted, clapping his hands and rushing off.

Finally, I could report in. I hit the button to contact the Tallest, and after a minute or two, Red finally picked up. "What is it now, Zim?" he sighed while Purple ate a doughnut behind him.

"I am pleased to report that the one threat to my mission, a human boy named Dib, has been successfully detained, and will no longer be a threat," I announced, smirking as I thought of all the people in the House of Crazy could do to him. Just because I simply wanted him out of my way, did not mean that I didn't take some joy in knowing that they would probably convince him that aliens aren't even real.

"That's great, Zim, great," Red responded.

"Isn't it?" I agreed.

"What's great?" Purple wondered through a full mouth as he walked up to Red.

Red sighed. "Zim says that he has eliminated the only threat to his...mission."

"Oh," Purple muttered.

"And isn't that wonderful!" I shouted. "Now, I can secure this planet for the Irken Empire without interruption!"

"Yeah. Great. Good job, Zim," Red congratulated. "Look, we have very important Empire business to attend to... Good luck conquering your planet."

"Uh, yeah!" Purple agreed. "Keep up the good work!"

The screen turned static as they signed off.

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "I just have to go back tomorrow night and make the Dib human scream again. The more he screams, the longer they'll lock him up. His rants about extraterrestrial life are the reason he's there, so even if they do let him go, it'll be after they've already convinced him that aliens aren't real at all! AHAHAHAHAHA! Computer! Laugh with me."

"Ugh. I don't want to," the computer's voice groaned.

"OBEY ME!" I ordered.

"Fiiiiine," the computer reluctantly agreed. "Ha. Ha. Ha."

"AHAHAHAHA!"


	6. Gaz: A New Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter takes place one month after Dib was locked up.

_One month later_

"Come, Gaz," Dad announced. "The doctors have contacted me saying that your brother is ready for us to visit him."

I barely glanced up from my Game Slave. "But it's the weekend."

"I have cleared my entire schedule for today so that we can visit your brother together," Dad reminded. "I'm curious to see if they can cure his insanity, and if they can, you can have a _real_ brother, and I can have a _real_ son!"

I paused my game as I thought of what he said. If they can make Dib normal, he won't bother me anymore by casting stupid pig spells on me. It's been nice this past month without him here. I could play my games without interruption, and no one was here to shove me off of the couch to watch Mysterious Mysteries for days on end, steal my pizza or drink the last soda.

But then again, I've been trying to shake this feeling that something was wrong this entire time. I was able to ignore it for the first week or so after Dib was taken away, but as time stretched on, that feeling became less and less ignorable.

I looked up at Dad. "Yeah, alright. I'll go with you."

"Great!" Dad shouted. "Be ready in five minutes."

He rushed off somewhere, and I turned my attention back to my game.

* * *

As Dad and I walked up to the door of the Crazy House for Boys, I heard a loud, familiar voice behind me. "Oh, hello, Gaz! What a beautiful day to visit the House of Crazy, yes?"

"Hello, Zim," I muttered, glancing at him and finding him sporting his bad human disguise with his green "dog" by his side. "What are you doing here?"

"Why, I'm here to visit my…_friend_, Dib!" he yelled, straining on the word "friend".

"What?" my dad exclaimed, halting his walk. "You're friends with my son?" He finally looked down at us. "Oh, you're that little foreign friend of his."

"Yes, I am," Zim announced. "Oh, how foreign I am."

We had finally reached the door of the Crazy House for Boys, and I knocked, and a thin panel towards the top of the door slid open, allowing me to see a pair of eyes peering out. "We're here to see Dib," I said.

The pair of eyes looked us over for a second before the slit closed up again. There was a clanging on the other side of the door that sounded like multiple locks being adjusted. A second later, the door opened, and we were greeted by a man in blue scrubs and a lab coat. "Are all three of you here for Dib?" he questioned, glancing at Zim.

"Of course we are! I am here to see my _friend_, Dib!" He started coughing so much that it sounded like he might lose a lung before looking back up at the man with a smile that was a little too wide.

"Alright. Let's get you to the waiting room," the doctor dismissed. The doctor guided the three of us through a maze of dark, white hallways until we arrived in a large, dimly lit room with several sets of chairs and tables throughout the room. There were several people already meeting there. "Choose a table, and Dib will come down to meet you in a few minutes," the doctor said, before he left.

Dad, Zim, his robot dog, and I took a seat at a nearby table to wait for Dib. Zim snickered quietly beside me, wringing his hands. I rolled my eyes. Whatever he had planned, he couldn't get away with it. We were in a public place surrounded by people and cameras, and he was so incompetent that he wouldn't even be able to stand before he ruined his own plan.

After a few minutes of silent waiting, the door opened again. Dib walked slowly in with his head down and two doctors on either side of him. They escorted him to the table where we waited and pulled a chair out for him. One of them put a hand on his shoulder as he sat down in the chair--more like fell into the chair, really. The two doctors walked off and left back out the door they came.

"So, son," Dad announced, "how are you feeling?"

Dib was silent for a moment before looking up at him. "Alright," he muttered.

There were dark circles under his eyes. They were always there before, but they were never this prominent. His cheeks were sunken in, and he looked even skinnier than he used to be.

"No insane thoughts of aliens recently?" Dad wondered.

Dib visibly tensed. "No."

His voice was so quiet and monotone. Something was wrong. Maybe this feeling I've had over the past month hasn't been simple paranoia.

I opened my mouth to ask a question of my own, but Zim cut me off. "Dib's male parental figure? I was wondering if I could have a moment alone with my _friend_." He made a disgusted face on the last word.

"Of course," Dad responded. "Gaz and I will be right outside and be back in in about five minutes."

Dad grabbed my arm and started to drag me off. I didn't fight him, but I looked back at Dib. He watched us leave. There was a look in his eye that I could see through the glare on his glasses. He didn't want us to leave. He wanted help.

What were they doing at this hospital?

Once we were outside of the visitors' room, I turned to Dad and said, "I'm going to check out the rest of the hospital."

Dad barely glance up from the tablet screen he was working on. "Okay, Gaz. Be careful."

I turned away from him and went back down the long, dark hallway. Why was it so dark in here anyway? This is a hospital. Don't they need to see?

Eventually, I came across an elevator, and I hit the button to go up, glancing around me to make sure that there were no doctors or other staff around. The elevator dinged, and the doors slid open. I walked inside and scanned the labels on the buttons for each level. There was one level labeled "Tacos". That was tempting, but there were surely hundreds of doctors on that level. I couldn't afford to get caught, and I only have five minutes until Dad wants to go back in and see Dib. I'll get a taco on the way home.

I pressed the button that read "Treatment Level", and the elevator shuddered as it started its ride upwards. It didn't take long for the elevator to reach the level and suddenly stop. Another ding sounded, and the doors slid open, allowing me to see the floor. I stepped out of the elevator as its doors closed behind me. The lighting up here was no better than downstairs, but I could still make out the words on the whiteboards that were attached to each door. They were names. It would be easier to find Dib's room than I thought.

I decided to try the right side of the hall first. I slowly walked forward, scanning each name as I went. I passed several doors before I came across one labeled "Dib Membrane".

There was a file folder in a holder that was attached to the wall next to the door. I took it out of the holder and scanned it. It had a picture of Dib as well as general information about him on the first few pages, but as I flipped through the pages, the documents got encoded. It was mostly symbols rather than words. I pulled out my phone and took a quick picture of the encoded pages. Gamers had to be good a puzzles. I could figure this out with some of the people I usually play with.

I slipped my phone back into my pocket and replaced the folder back where I found it. I tried the door handle to Dib's room and found that it wasn't locked, which was only somewhat surprising. Dib was downstairs and not in here after all. I went inside and quickly shut the door behind me. There wasn't much in the room. It was small and even darker than the hallway. There was one window that clearly didn't have a way to open it and a bed with the thinnest mattress I've ever seen. There weren't even sheets on it.

I stepped further into the room, and I stepped in something that made a splashing sound. I glanced down and lifted my foot out of the dark puddle. Why would a puddle be dark? I took out my phone again and turned on the flashlight. The puddle wasn't water. It was red. Blood.

I instantly jumped over the puddle, shivering in an attempt to shake off my nerves. Blood. Why would there be blood on the floor?

I scanned the bed a little further and found even more blood dried on the mattress. There were metal handcuffs attached to the guardrails on either side of the bed.

This wasn't a hospital room. It was a prison cell.

I raced out of the room, quickly making it back to the elevator. I pressed the call button for it and anxiously waited for it to arrive. The doors slid open not soon enough. I ran inside and repeatedly pressed the button to go back down to the level Dad, Zim and Dib waited.


	7. Dib: Relapse and ... Re...laxation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this chapter is super dark, so just...prepare yourselves!

I watched after Gaz and Dad as they left me alone. They were the first friendly faces I've seen in a long time. I don't know how long. How many days have I been here? I can barely remember.

"So, Dib," a familiar and high-pitched voice shouted, "things are going good for you here, aren't they?"

I glanced at Zim and found him leaning against the table with his chin resting in his hand. GIR had climbed up onto the seat next to him. His question was clearly sarcastic, but I answered it anyways. Exactly like I was told to. "Yes. It's good here."Despite the fact that I was doing what they asked, I still tensed, though I tried to logic my way through my fear. They're not going to hurt me for doing what they said. I'll be okay. I just have to not freak out over Zim's green skin. I keep thinking that he comes to visit me at night, but that can't be true. No one can get in here unless they're let in, so that begged the question, "What are you doing here, Zim?"

"Oh, I'm just here to visit my friend," he answered casually, picking his head up.

"We're _not_ friends," I corrected. I was still reasonably sure that Zim was an alien, added to the fact that I still remember all of our interactions at Skool. Alien or not, we're still horrible to each other.

"Of course we are!" Zim yelled before quickly lowering his voice. "We saved the Earth from that hamster remember? That hamster I altered with my _alien_ technology."

I tensed at his words. I remember that. I remember everything, but I can't say anything. I can't.

"Then there was Tak," Zim continued. "Remember Tak? She tried to suck out the core of the Earth. Then you stole her ship and worked and worked on it until you got it to fly for you."

I gritted my teeth to keep from yelling at him. What he was saying was rousing all of the memories again. I can't say anything. I can't. But the urge to try to convince the people here that Zim was an alien was hard to fight because if I managed to make them believe me, they'd let me go.

"What's wrong, Dib?" he asked. "Dog got your tongue?"

"It's _cat_ got your tongue," I spat.

"I'm a dog!" GIR exclaimed.

GIR's voice made me jump. I had almost forgotten that Zim's "dog" was actually a robot. It was getting harder and harder to bite back the words that wanted to come out. Dad, Gaz, please come back and get him to stop talking.

Zim's mouth warped into a twisted form of a smirk. "That's right Dib. The dog is a robot, remember? And me?" He reached up and grasped the edge of his wig, shifting it slightly. One of his antenna slithered out from underneath the wig. "I'm an alien."

I shouted. I couldn't take it anymore. I stood up and leaned into the table. "Get out of here, you alien!" The doors burst open, and the two doctors who escorted me here rushed in. I knew I should be afraid. I had broken their rules, but I was too angry to care. "You cold-hearted space monster! You sent me here!" I shouted. The "doctors" grabbed at my arms, trying to force me back down into the chair. "No!" I yelled, straining to pull my arms free from their grasp. "Let me go!"

A sharp, electric pain coursed through my side, reminding me who was really in charge here. I cried out in pain but still refused to sit back down. The damage was already done. All I could do was warn Zim to stay away from me.

The doctors started to drag me off, and though I fought against them, they were stronger than I was. My heels scrapped against the floor as they pulled me out of the room. "You stay away from me, alien scum! I never want to see you again! You sent me here!"

The doors to the visitors' area closed in front of me, blocking Zim from my vision. My dad stood beside the double doors, a tablet in his hand. He looked up from it and watched me as I pulled against the doctors dragging me off. I didn't need to see his eyes to know that disappointment lied behind his goggles. Gaz came up next to him and watched me, too, though there was something in her expression that was different than her usual apathy.

The doctors dragged me into the elevator, and as the doors closed, they electrocuted me again with one of their shock prods, forcing me to stop because of the pain. "Dib, we understand that learning this new information is difficult for you," one of the doctors said with a sympathy that I knew to be fake, "but we thought you understood that our rules are here to help you." His voice took on a much darker tone, dropping the false sympathy completely. "You cannot accuse people of being aliens. Do you know why?"

I knew _their_ answer as to why and my _dad's_ answer as to why, but I wasn't going to say anything. If I say anything, it will only reinforce _their_ ideas in my mind and eliminate my own. I have to keep my own mind intact.

After a second or two more of silence, the doctor sighed. "We had hoped to only lock you in your room for a time out, but it looks like we need to use the tank again."

I tensed at the mention of it. Not the tank. Being in the tank was calming at first, but after a while, I started to see things. It hurt.

The elevator dinged, and the doors opened onto my level. I had hardly noticed that the elevator had moved at all. The doctors towed me from the elevator and turned left down the hall.

I dreaded every second to the tank room, and we arrived there all too soon. The doctors forced me inside and onto the platform where they shoved me into the tight, plastic suit and zipped me inside. The slipped my hands into gloves and wrapped my wrists in tape. They pushed me deeper into the room until we came to the large tank of water.

"Now, Dib," a voice said, ringing through the speakers in the ceiling, "while you're in there, I want you to think about what you did in the visitors' room today. I hope that you will come to the realization that what you did was wrong. You cannot accuse people of being aliens because…" The voice trailed off. They were waiting for me to answer, but I refused.

The two doctors beside me shoved earplugs into my ears and lowered the helmet over my head. It covered my entire face and went all the way down to my neck. There was only one hole, and it was connected to a tube that would provide me with oxygen. I felt the doctors press around my neck as they sealed it with duct tape, and the tight suit wiggled around my as they connected the suspension cords before they roughly shoved me forward.

I knew that I was floating in the water, but I couldn't feel anything. I wasn't wet or cold, and I had no sense of gravity. I couldn't even tell if I was floating with my face down in the water or if I was on my back. I couldn't see or hear, and the air that was pumped into the helmet had no scent to it. Complete sensory deprivation. There's nothing wrong with a little sensory deprivation, but after an extended period of time, I knew from experience that you started to hallucinate, and after they pulled you out, you're so senseless that you'd listen to anything they tell you.

I tried to focus on my breathing, making its sound as loud as possible to give me something, anything, to remind me that I still existed. I knew it wouldn't be enough, but I had to try.

* * *

I eventually saw things in the darkness. I saw Zim and GIR. I was in his base below his house. He was laughing, but I didn't know what about. GIR was running around with Minimoose on top of his head.

A bright light suddenly flashed, and the scene changed. It was too bright, but I couldn't close my eyes or lift my hand to shield my gaze.

"Dib," a voice called, "listen to me. Zim is just a human boy with a skin condition. You cannot accuse people of being aliens because…"

The voice trailed off, waiting for me to answer. I knew what to say. It was the only thing that could be true. "Because aliens aren't real."


	8. Gaz: Decode for Hidden Content

I slipped my headphones on and logged into one of my online games. "Anyone out there?" I asked into the microphone that was attached to the headset.

"Hey, Gaz!" one voice greeted through the speakers in my headset.

"Where've you been?" questioned the young voice of Jeremy.

"Yeah, it's been, like, a whole day," the feminine voice of Sam pointed out.

"Sorry, guys," I muttered. "My dad and I were visiting my brother."

The other voices were silent for a moment.

"How was he?" the first, deep voice that belonged to Ron asked.

"He was alright at first…" I trailed off, remembering how the doctors dragged him off. He screamed so loudly, and he looked like an animal being taken to slaughter.

"Anything we can do?" Sam wondered.

"Actually, yeah. There is," I answered. "I took a look around the rest of the hospital, and I found Dib's room and his file."

"And?" Jeremy urged.

"And it's encoded," I said. "I want to know what they're doing there. Let's meet up and work it out."

"Why can't we do it online?" Jeremy complained.

I didn't know why I was so nervous about doing it online. It's what I would be more comfortable doing, too, I'm not really good with people, but I still couldn't get over this anxiety that has been gnawing away at me since I found the blood in Dib's room. "I just think it would be better. My dad is saying that I need to go outside more," I lied.

"Yeah, my mom is saying that, too," Jeremy agreed.

"Sure," Ron added. "We can meet up. Just tell us when and where."

"Uh, how about after we finish this boss battle?" Sam joked, getting me to smirk and focus on the game.

* * *

The next day was Saturday, and I met up with my gaming friends at the park, four copies of the document I photographed in hand.

"Hey, Gaz!" called a voice that I easily recognized.

I glanced towards it to find my friend, Jeremy, sitting with Ron and Sam. I jogged up to them and sat down at their picnic table next to Sam. Ron was older than Sam, Jeremy and I--in his teens--but that didn't stop us four from hanging out every now and then.

"So what's going on with Dib?" Sam wondered.

"I don't know," I muttered. "I told you that I found his hospital room, but I didn't tell you what I found there."

"What did you find?" Ron asked.

"There was blood on the floor and on his mattress, and there were handcuffs attached to the guardrails of the bed," I said, straining to keep my voice steady.

Jeremy sat bolt-right up. "You-you're not going to show us any pictures of blood are you?"

"No, I didn't take any pictures of that," I reassured, remembering his phobia.

"Why would there be blood on the floor?" Sam asked. "Are they hurting him?"

Dib was a nuisance, and I threatened him a lot, but he's still my brother. I'd never do any physical damage to him, and the thought of him bleeding that much…

"Why don't you show us that file of his, and then we work it out?" Ron suggested.

I nodded and brought out the four folded copies of the document.

"So, we're going analog today?" Sam quipped.

I rolled my eyes and unfolded the papers, passing copies to each of them.

"Wow," Jeremy gasped. "You weren't kidding when you said that it was encoded."

"There doesn't look to be any rhyme or reason to these symbols at all," Ron pointed out.

"Yeah, this might take a few days to decode it out entirely," Sam added, her eyebrows creased in concentration as she studied the papers. "Even with all of us working on it."

"I'm not willing to open the circle any wider with this," I cautioned. "We can work it out."

* * *

A few days passed. We met up at the park after school every day, comparing notes and findings. Little by little, the symbols started to make sense. On Friday of that week, we met up at the park again. I was simultaneously excited and scared. I needed to know what they were doing to Dib, but I was also afraid that it would be too terrible to dwell on.

I spotted Ron's tall, thin form from across the grass and ran up to his table, finding Jeremy there. I sat next to Ron, and a minute later, Sam joined us, taking a seat beside Jeremy. The four of us took our copies of the encoded document and our notes from our bags and spread them across the table. "Looks like we're almost done," Sam pointed out, a dulled spark of hope in her voice, "but I'm not sure if I like what it says so far."

The part of the document that we had decoded had said something about Dib responding slowly, but promisingly, to his course of treatment. It talked about shock prods and a complete sensory deprivation tank. I looked up the effects of sensory deprivation, and it was harmless if it was done for only a small amount of time, but if it was done for multiple hours, things started to get a little questionable. There were hallucinations and senselessness that were so intense that they could break a person's mind. "Let's keep going," I urged. "We're almost finished with it."

We spent the next few hours decoding the remainder of the document, and the more I read it, the more I was put on edge. It talked more and more of what they were doing to Dib, and by the time the decoding was completed, it had graphic descriptions of drugs and torture that they were subjecting Dib to. It said that their goal was to wipe out any desire to indulge in the supernatural as well as destroy thoughts of it.

That...that was Dib's entire personality. His entire life. If they took that away from him…Dib's indulgence in _Mysterious Mysteries _was irritating, but usually, I could ignoring by going into my room and playing a game until he was done. What would Dib be if he couldn't watch that anymore or go after Zim?

I had to get him out of there. According to the document, if they continued like this, they would either kill Dib or break him beyond recognition. No one can hold out forever. I quickly gathered up my papers and carelessly shoved them into my bag.

"Hey, Gaz," Ron called, worry etched in his voice. "You gotta calm down and think rationally."

I ignored him and zipped up my bag, swinging it over my shoulder.

"Gaz, he's right," Sam agreed. "You need to slow down for a second."

I started to march away from them when Jeremy jumped in front of me, forcing me to a stop. "You need to stop. You can't just go marching in there. Do you know what could happen if you got caught? They might commit you to the hospital, too."

I had considered the possibility, but I was too angry with the people who were "treating" Dib to think rationally. I shoved Jeremy out of the way and practically ran back to my house.

I dropped my school bag on the floor of my bedroom and emptied out the excess weight of school books and note books. I packed a pair of walkie talkies into my bag in case Dib and I got separated and a retractable bo staff, that I hardly used, for a weapon along with a lock-pick. Then I went to my closet and grabbed a ski mask and pulled it over my face. Just because I didn't really care if I got caught, doesn't mean I wanted to.

Dad was at one of his extended meetings, so he wasn't home to wonder where I was going. I left the house and started the trek to the Crazy House for Boys. It wasn't that far away by car, but walking made the journey take almost an hour. The sun was already setting by the time my friends and I were finished with the code, so by the time I got to the Crazy House, it was already dark out.

I quickly dove behind one of the vans that they took Dib away in, watching the cameras as they rotated. After a minute of studying them, I found that there was a very brief blind spot at the front door. I rushed to the door, taking my lock-pick out of my bag as I went. I inserted the pick into the keyhole and quickly unlocked the door. I opened it up and ducked inside, rushing to close the door again.

I took a moment to slow my heart down from the anxiety of picking the lock before slowly creeping forward, clinging to the wall. It was even darker in the hospital at night. I could barely see the cameras. They probably had night vision, so it was a good thing I had my face covered.

Eventually, I made it to the elevator and pressed the button to call it. The elevator dinged after a second or two, and the silver doors slid open. I slipped inside and hit the button for the treatment level, getting the elevator doors to close. Once the door opened again, I was on Dib's level. I took a breath to prep myself for what I might find in Dib's room and stepped out of the elevator.


	9. Dib: Excuses and... Escape?

I laid on the bed staring at the ceiling, but it didn't feel like I was laying on anything. It felt like I was floating in midair. I felt like I was asleep, but I knew I was awake. It was so confusing. I don't even remember how long had passed since Dad and Gaz came to visit me. Since then, I had been in that tank more than before, and they were injecting me with more and more drugs. They were trying to convince me that aliens aren't real, and maybe they're not. Why else would I be in here?

I still have my memories, though. That time I piloted Mercury to stop Zim from crushing the Earth with Mars. That thing with the hamster, and that time Zim and I got turned into bologna. And Tak's ship. Tak's ship is still in my garage. Gaz and I flew that ship to the North Pole to stop Zim from teleporting all of humanity to their doom.

How could all of that just have been one giant delusion?

But then again, the military called me crazy and put me into one of their Crazy Buckets during the whole hamster thing after I told them that Pipi was mutated through alien tampering. Maybe the hamster was mutated through contact with something natural like the nuclear plant? It did crash through it.

But then what was that thing on its back?

I shook my head, temporarily making me feel like I had thrown myself across the room. I had cycled through these same thoughts a million times. I had to decide soon. I couldn't take it here anymore. Was every supernatural and extraterrestrial thing I've experienced real, or was it all one massive hallucination?

I didn't know how long had passed after I had stopped myself from running in mental circles--a few seconds? A minute or two?--but the door clicked and drifted open with an echoing creak. A little while later a hand landed on my shoulder and gently shook me, making the world around me spin alarmingly fast.

"Dib?" a familiar voice called. "Dib, it's me."

I glanced towards the voice but found nothing but a dark, faceless figure. And alien?

I flinched at my own thought.

"Dib, it's me Gaz. I'm wearing a ski mask," the figure explained. "I'm getting you out of here."

Out of here? I wasn't entirely sure if this person was truly Gaz, but if she offered a way to get me out, I would take it.

"Come on," the faceless person urged, grabbing onto my arm and pulling me.

I tried to help them by sitting up, but the drugs that were in my system not only made me weak, but made the whole planet tilt out from underneath me. Somehow, with the help from the figure, I made it onto my feet, practically falling into her. She almost had to drag me forward, the floor lurching out from under me.

At some point, an alarm started blaring, and a red light started flashing, making the spinning in my head worse.

"Dang it," the faceless person muttered. "We'll have to take the stairs. They've probably locked down the elevator."

We started to go faster and faster, running down the stairs that eventually ended. Then we were outside.

Outside.

I took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was so much better than the stuffy air of the hospital. I wanted to look up at the stars, but I was putting too much concentration into keeping my legs under me, so I won't be dead weight for the figure who brought me outside.

We made it across the street, but then the person who got me out stopped and leaned me against a wall. She dug through her bag, and brought out a small metal rod that quickly extended into a full-sized bo staff.

Suddenly, there were people around us and hands grabbing at me. I tried to push them away, but I didn't have the strength to fight them. Then the hands were gone, and the figure came back, her bo staff retracting into a small tube again. She picked me up from the ground, and though I tried to help her so I wouldn't be such dead weight, I could tell that I wasn't much aide.

We continued forward, and I didn't know how long we walked for. Eventually, we came to a house that I recognized. My house.

The person with me opened the door, rushed us both inside and dropped me on the couch. Then she closed and locked the door, taking her mask off. It _was_ Gaz.

"How are you doing?" she asked.

"I think my head is clearing up a little," I said, though it sounded slurred even to my ears.

"Give it a few hours, and it'll work it's way out of your system," Gaz explained. "You can sleep it off it you want."

I couldn't tell if she was being extraordinarily nice to me for some reason, or if this was her normal behavior, and I just interpreted our previous interactions as threatening.

Either way, I was exhausted, and I gladly let my eyes close.

* * *

I woke up about three hours later, and Gaz was still there with me on the couch, her Game Slave in her hands. "It's about time you woke up," she muttered, hardly even glancing up from her game.

I could tell that the drugs were out of my system for the most part. My vision wasn't hazy, and I could think clearly. To test things out, I pulled myself up into a sitting position. I was still a little unsteady, but my strength had returned. "Why'd you get me out of there?" I wondered, more thinking out loud than expecting an answer.

Gaz's hands froze on her Game Slave for a brief moment before resuming. "I needed test my skills with my bo staff. I was getting out of practice."

We were silent for a moment before Gaz spoke up again. "You hungry?" My stomach growled loudly in answer to her question, getting her to smirk. "You remember the way to the kitchen?" she mocked.

"Ha. Ha," I stated, cautiously getting up from the couch.

I started to make my way towards the kitchen when the floor lurched, making me lose my balance. I caught myself on the door jam before I could fall. I shook my head and put a hand to my temple. Maybe my system wasn't as cleared out as I thought it was.

After making sure that I was completely steady, I continued into the kitchen and towards the fridge. I opened it up and scanned the contents. Just wanting something quick and easy, I took the milk out and poured myself a bowl of Choco Chunkies. I ate it rather quickly before getting some more. I didn't realize how hungry I was. I only vaguely remember eating at the hospital. I know that I did, but I don't remember how often I ate or what the meals were.

The sound of footsteps made me glance up towards the doorway. I found Gaz leaning against the door jam. "So…" she began, "you still believe in aliens?"

My breath caught in my throat at the last word. I took a second to remind myself that I was at home now before I pondered her question.

Did I still believe that Zim is an alien?

I know I'm not supposed to, but my memories of space and Zim's base were too detailed to ignore. And with my head finally clear, I no longer questioned my own experiences. I looked back up at my sister. "Ye-yeah," I stuttered, my heart-rate picking up despite my reasoning. "I do."

I thought I saw Gaz's lips twitch upwards in some form of a smile, but it was too quick for me to be sure if I really saw it.

Gaz picked herself up from the doorway, got a bowl from the cabinet and sat down on the other side of the table. She got herself some cereal, and we ate in silence, Gaz resuming her game as she ate.

I glanced out the window and found that the sky was beginning to lighten. It was morning. Maybe about seven. I don't remember much of what happened last night, but I do remember Gaz's retractable bo staff.

I turned back to her, and wondered, "Hey, Gaz? Could I see your bo staff?"

"After I'm finished with this level," she muttered in return.

"I didn't even know you had a bo staff," I commented.

"I don't use it much."

We lapsed into silence again until Gaz closed her Game Slave. "I'll let you see my bo staff if you clean up." Gaz didn't even wait for an answer before getting up from the table and going back into the living room.

I cautiously got up from my chair and slowly took the bowls and spoons, placing them in the sink. I managed to put the milk and cereal away, too before getting so dizzy that I had to lean against the counter. You'd think that the drugs would be out of my system by now. Maybe there was something else wrong with me that I didn't have the energy or concentration to notice before.

"Dib?" Gaz's voice called. I turned around, still gripping the counter. Gaz was standing in the doorway, her retracted bo staff in hand. "You okay?" she wondered.

I nodded. "Yeah. I'm good." I gestured to her staff. "That it?"

"Yeah."

Gaz came closer to me and handed me the tube. It was lighter than I thought it would be. "How do you extend it?" I asked.

"First, you'd need to step away from the counter so you don't break anything," she ordered.

I did as she requested and moved closer towards the center of the room.

Gaz put her hand out and fisted it, her knuckles facing towards me. She turned her hand over so that her fingers were facing the ceiling and moved her arm out to the side. "Hold it like this," she instructed.

I mimicked her.

"Now give it one hard jerk."

I did so, and the staff extended, one end of it stabbing me in the leg. I cried out at the sudden pain, dropping the staff to grip my leg.

Gaz laughed.

I scowled at her before picking the staff up from the ground. I examined the center of the staff where the mechanisms must be. "Would you mind if I took a closer look at this?" I wondered.

"If you break it, I will make you regret being born," Gaz threatened.

I nodded, and managed to stop myself from saying that part of me already regrets being born.

Gaz walked off, and a second later, I heard the TV click on. I moved towards the stairs that lead down to Dad's lab and slowly walked down them. I still remember what happened with that dimensional scope. That was terrifying. Although, that _had_ to be a hallucination. Maybe the scope affected my brain waves and made me see things. The monsters in that universe did say that it was based off of my imagination.

Once down in Dad's lab, I skirted his dimensional scope and went to the observation table. I placed the bo staff on the table and got to work on it. It was an effective weapon already if you knew how to use it, but if you didn't--like me--it would be better to give it some sort of extra asset. But which one? Something with a bit more range, probably, in case I can't hit the enemy. Something that would be painful enough to take them out but not kill them. Electricity, maybe? If the user wore insulating clothes, then it would work. It would hurt the enemy, and if it was a low enough voltage, it had the potential to knock them out without causing too much damage. I didn't have the strength to knock a person out by hitting them like Gaz apparently did.

A few hours later, and after multiple tests, I finally got it right. The bo staff had a switch that makes the electricity optional. The electric current ranged in strength. It could knock someone out or deliver a shock that was similar to the one you received from a doorknob after rubbing your feet on the carpet. And as long as the user wore long rubber gloves, the electricity wouldn't affect you if you didn't accidentally hit yourself like I did this morning.

A crash sounded upstairs, making me jump. A second later, Gaz was down in the lab with me. She snatched the staff from my hands and turned to face the stairs.

"Gaz!" I shouted, taking off the black rubber gloves I was wearing. "You'll have to put these on." I tossed them to her.

She caught them. "Why?" she questioned. "What did you do to the staff?"

"I electrified it, so unless you want to get electrocuted, you're going to have to wear those," I cautioned. She leaned the staff against the observation table and quickly put the gloves on, picking the staff back up. "What's going on?" I wondered, glancing towards the stairs.

"The goons from the hospital found us," she said, a slight bite in her voice.

I tensed. I couldn't go back to that hospital. My head was finally clear. I can't go back.

I started back away from the stairs, retreating to a far away corner of the lab.

Gaz gripped her staff harder as several people with the hospital's name on their clothes sprinted down the stairway. The staff delivered a high-pitched whine as Gaz powered it up, and she started whipping the staff around, hitting person after person. But there were too many of them. The number of enemies doubled and quickly overwhelmed my sister. I lost sight of her as several of the enemies came towards me.

"No!" I screamed, running as far away from them as I could, but I couldn't get very far before another person sprang up in front of me.

I froze and backed away, running into someone else. They wrapped their hands around me, forcing me to remain in place. I struggled against their hold, but I couldn't get out. The man in front of me stalked closer, taking a needle out of his pocket. I stopped struggling, knowing what was coming. I didn't want them to take me away again, but what choice did I have?

The man inserted the needle into my neck and pushed the plunger down, an ice cold rush instantly making me weak. The one who was holding me quickly scooped me up from the ground. I glanced around, trying to keep myself awake, but I could already tell that I was losing the fight against the drug. I looked down and saw Gaz lying on the ground, her bo staff just out of her reach. Her eyes were closed, and she wasn't moving. "Gaz," I called, though even I could barely hear it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I loved writing this chapter so much! So much brother-sister bonding!


	10. Gaz: Avoiding Detection

"Gaz," a faint voice called, but it was too distant to matter.

"Gaz," they said again, a little louder.

I groaned. Why couldn't whoever it was just leave me alone? I was sleeping.

"Gaz!"

The owner of the voice shook me awake, and I looked up to find Dad. What was he doing here? Wasn't he in a meeting?

"I got an alert saying that an unfamiliar person had broken into our home," Dad explained, picking me up from the ground. He sat me down on top of one of the various observational tables in the lab. "Do you know what happened?"

It took me a moment to remember. I couldn't tell Dad that I had broken Dib out of the Crazy House for Boys, and he probably wouldn't find out otherwise because I had my face covered when I got him out. "Dib broke out of the hospital," I lied. "He came here and went down to the lab. I didn't know he was here until some people from the hospital burst in and ran down here."

"Dib broke out?" he yelled, backing away. "Why would he do that? Aren't they helping him there?"

"Maybe he doesn't want to be helped," I suggested.

"Why wouldn't he want to be there?" Dad countered. "They're making him better!"

"Dib didn't say that they were," I said.

If I can't break Dib out, maybe I can convince Dad to take him out of the hospital. Dib didn't belong there, and it was getting too quiet in the house.

"I will go back to the hospital tomorrow and talk to the people in charge about what happened. Maybe they can clear it up," Dad ranted, marching up the stairs.

* * *

A few days later, I met up with my online friends at the park after school. "How did everything go?" Sam wondered as I sat down next to her.

"I got him out," I muttered.

"And?" Ron urged.

"I took him back home, and we managed to stay there for a few hours before they found us."

"I'm sorry," Sam sighed. "At least you didn't get caught."

"Yeah, if they caught you," Jeremy agreed, "they would have hauled you off with Dib, right?"

"I suppose, but you never know," I countered. "My dad is going to have a talk with them the hospital directors today and ask them about what happened."

"Well, fingers crossed," Ron uttered, doing just that.

"What do we do until then?" Sam wondered.

"Game?" Jeremy suggested after a beat of silence.

We all pulled out our Game Slave Twos and synced them up, beginning to play.

* * *

When I got home that night, Dad was sitting on the couch watching something. I dropped down onto the seat next to him and pulled my Game Slave back out. I was just about to unlock the second hidden level on a game I've been playing for a few days, and no matter the circumstances, I wasn't going to stop now.

"Look at this, Gaz!" Dad shouted as I powered up my gaming system. I looked up at the TV and realized that he was watching what looked to be security footage. "Who is this person that broke Dib out of the hospital? I've gone over this same shot a hundred times, and I still can't figure it out."

After a second or two, an image of me in the ski mask appeared on the screen, dragging Dib after me. Dad paused it on the clearest shot of me that the cameras ever got. "Who is this girl?" he muttered, rubbing his chin.

"I don't know," I whispered looking down at my Game Slave. "Someone from school, probably."

"That's it!" Dad exclaimed, pointing towards the ceiling. "We will interrogate everyone in Dib's class to make sure that if it was one of them, that he or she will be caught and ensure that they never break Dib out again!" Dad rushed off, and then I heard him talking on the phone in another room.

If Dad's interrogating just Dib's class, then I'm in the clear.

* * *

_Two months later_

The investigation into our school finally slowed to a stop and the case of who broke Dib out of the Crazy House for Boys was declared cold. That allowed me to breathe a little easier, but the silence in the house was weighing on me more than ever, especially now that it was summer break. I had infinitely more time to game, but when I took off my headphones at the end of the day, I could practically feel the silence pressing on me. Dad was either in the basement lab, doing some other scientific investigation across town or following up with the investigators who looked into Dib's breakout case.

Dad and I got to visit Dib once since I broke him out. He seemed even worse than that night. He could barely keep his focus on us for more than a minute or so at a time before staring off into the distance for a while. I wanted to know what they were doing to him, but it was too risky because the security was even higher now. There were bars on the windows and even more cameras, and you needed a key card to use the elevator.

Dad told me that at this rate, Dib could be declared cured by the time school started for next year. He was already taken out of the Treatment Level and brought down to the Observation Level, where they were much more relaxed, according to Dad. Dib would have to go in for follow up sessions with a therapist, and he would be on some medication, but he would be out and away from there. There would be noise in the house again, and he could resume his plans to prove that Zim is an alien. No matter what they did to him, that place couldn't take out my brother's core nature.


	11. Zim: According to Plan

Hearing that someone had broken Dib out of the House of Crazy was a shock to me, especially when they interrogated me. Me! Zim! The one that the Dib Stink had accused! They let me go without a fuss, but still!

I decided to pay Dib another visit that night to see what was going on, only to find that I couldn't break in using the same paths as before. They stepped up their security. No matter. It would be no match for my mighty Irken technology.

I used my mechanical legs in my PAK to quickly make my way up to the door. I took a hacking probe out of my pocket and threw it up to the camera that was closest to me. Sparks of electricity enveloped the camera and then suddenly disappeared. The probe would temporarily knock out the cameras. The people watching will think that it's just a malfunction, so as long as I cover my physical tracks well, I won't get caught.

I carefully picked the lock and entered. I made my way silently to the elevator, hitting the button to call it. The doors slid open, and I entered as the doors closed again. I was about to hit the button labeled "Treatment Level" when I noticed a slot for a key card. I suppressed a frustrated yell. They had stepped up their security more than I expected.

I used my mechanical legs to raise my height up to the ceiling of the elevator. I removed the panel in the middle of the ceiling and then lifted myself through the hole it left behind. I closed up the panel again before climbing up the sides of the elevator shaft with my mechanical legs until I got to the necessary level. I pried the elevator door open and slipped through. I made my way quickly to where Dib's room, picked the lock on the door handle and snuck inside, closing the door behind me.

I retracted my mechanical legs and approached Dib's bed. He was laying on his back, not strapped down for once. His glasses were off, and his eyes were closed, though he was muttering to himself.

I picked him up by the collar of his shirt and shook him to get him to wake up. I dropped him back down onto his bed, and his eyes fluttered open. "Zim…" he muttered.

"That's right, Dib," I whispered.

I didn't usually have to say anything. Just my presence without my human disguise was enough to make Dib scream, but this time he wasn't. Dib's eyes closed again, and he seemed to fall asleep.

"Hey," I said, raising my voice slightly, "what's wrong with you?" I picked him up by the collar again, but Dib did nothing but groan. I let him drop again. "Huh," I muttered. Maybe they've broken him.

I glanced down at him again and finally noticed a clear plastic tube that was coming out of his arm. I followed the tube to find that it was connected to a hanging bag that contained a clear liquid. I went over to it to inspect it. The liquid in the bag looked a lot like water, but I doubted that it was. It must be what's making Dib behave even more stupid than usual.

I smirked. As long as it kept him out of my way, I didn't care. "Happy summer break, Dib."

I went back the way I came, carefully retracing my steps, leaving no indication that I was there at all. I reclaimed my hacking probe and returned to my base.

* * *

The months of summer break flew by as I made plans to destroy the pitiful humans and distracted GIR. I almost forgot that I needed to attend skool again. The members of my class were the same when I returned, but we were in middle school, now. I didn't know exactly what the phrase "middle school" meant, but we were in a different building and had a different teacher. I rushed off to the new building as the late bell rang in my antenna. I burst through the door to find that the rest of the class was already there, and that our teacher was a male human, now.

There were two empty seats near the door, and I quickly took the one that was further back, leaving one last seat in front of me.

The teacher looked up from his papers, put down his pen and stood up, walking around his desk. "Class," he began, "as you are well aware, after Christmas last year, Dib Membrane was taken to the Crazy House for Boys and looked after. Today will be his first day back in school since then. I expect you all to treat him with respect and kindness today."

The Dib human was returning already? I wonder if he'll still try to come after me.

The door to the classroom opened again, and Dib entered the room with his male parental figure behind him. "Here you are, Dib," the adult announced. "I will see you at home." The adult turned and left, and Dib walked in, slowly closing the door behind him. He dropped into the last empty desk in front of me, his head down.

"It's good to see that you're doing well, Dib," our new teacher said. "I'm mister Kowalski."

Dib barely nodded.

As class officially started, I tuned out the teacher unit and studied Dib. He has hardly reacted to anything let alone my presence. I suppose that's a good thing. And he wasn't wearing his long, black coat either, which was strange. I always thought he was quite attached to that thing.

This past summer has been boring. I made plans that I'm going to implement some time this school year, yes, but it was boring. No one continually broke into my base or fought against me. His lack of interference was somehow simultaneously pleasant and frustrating.

As class went on, Dib's large head gradually lowered until it rested on the desk, and moments later, gentle snoring could be heard coming from him.

I snickered as some girl nearby shouted, "Hey! I think Dib fell asleep!"

The teacher stopped droning on and approached Dib's desk, smacking a ruler next to his head. Dib jumped up. "I'm sorry!" he shouted.

"I know that this is just your first day back, Dib, which is why I'm willing to be lenient today, but this behavior will not be tolerated. Understand?" teacher Kowalski threatened.

Dib looked down at the floor. "Yes, sir."

* * *

As the day went on, I noticed just how poorly Dib was doing. He didn't eat anything at lunch, and he could hardly keep up during gym--I ran circles around the Dib Human--and he dozed off during class more than once. Whatever those humans in charge of the House of Crazy did to him, it was effective, and it would keep him out of my way physically. Now I just need to test him and make sure that he no longer even thought of foiling me.

As the final bell rang, I followed Dib out of school and onto the road. "Hiya, Dib," I announced, catching up to him. "Remember me?"

"Hi, Zim," he muttered.

"So how was the Crazy House?" I mocked. "Surely they got all of that alien nonsense out of you."

The Stink Boy visibly tensed when I mentioned aliens. Good. That means he'll stay out of my way permanently.

We met up with Gaz as we walked. She greeted me, but didn't look up from the device that she always had in her hand. We separated as we went to our separate shelter units, but I almost looked forward to seeing Dib tomorrow.


	12. Dib: This...Is...Better

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, everyone!!

"Just so you know," Gaz voiced as Zim turned down towards his house, "I like Miss Bitters."

"I thought you would," I whispered.

We were silent the rest of the way home, the sounds coming from Gaz's Game Slave growing more intense as she blasted through the levels.

When we got home, I did my homework on the couch while Gaz continued to play her game. She groaned as the levels got harder and harder. When I finished my homework, I didn't know what to do. I would normally watch TV or something, but what if any of the shows mentioned…

"On this episode of _Mysterious Mysteries_," a voice announced, making my nearly jump out of my skin, "are aliens heading our way?"

"It was getting too quiet in here," Gaz said.

"Scientists have spotted a strange mass heading towards Earth," the announcer continued, showing an image of space. "Some say that it's a meteor, but other say that it could not be."

No. No space. No aliens.

I gripped my head, trying to force rising memories down and block out the sound of the show. "Aliens aren't real," I muttered, reinforcing their truths. "Zim is not an alien. It was all my imagination. Aliens aren't real. Zim is not an alien. It was just my imagination."

This is just a test, and I'm not going to fail.

Suddenly the music changed, making me jump and look up again. It was a kids' cartoon now. Just a cartoon.

"Well, geeze. If you're going to have such an annoying reaction," Gaz muttered as she let the remote control drop back down onto the couch.

I was able to relax now that _Mysterious Mysteries_ had been turned off.

A few minutes later, Dad burst through the door. "Hello, kids!" he shouted, closing the door behind him. "How was your first day of school?"

"Fine," Gaz muttered, not looking up from her game.

"And Dib?" Dad approached the couch and sat on my opposite side. "How did today go with Zim."

"Fine," I whispered, not wanting to talk about who I used to think was an alien.

"That's wonderful, Son!" Dad exclaimed. "Now let's have dinner as a family."

* * *

About halfway through dinner, Dad looked up from his electronic work pad and pulled a bottle out of his lab coat. "Don't forget your medicine, Son."

Dad opened the bottle and poured two pills into his hand, offering them to me. I hated taking those pills. They make me feel like I'm half asleep, but it's not like I had a choice. I took the pills from Dad's hands and put them in my mouth, taking a drink of water and swallowing them.

"I know that you dislike taking those, Son, but I'm proud that you are," Dad praised as he put the pill bottle away. "They will keep you well, and able to study _**real science**_ like me."

"Thanks, Dad," I muttered, a muted sense of something light growing in my chest at his words.

* * *

After dinner, Dad actually went upstairs with Gaz and I, and he took a seat at my desk as I changed into my pajamas in the bathroom. I came back out of the bathroom with a glass of water to put on my bedside table, and Dad handed me the pills that would put me to sleep for the night.

I hesitated this time. I was already tired enough. Did I really need them?

"Come on, Son," he encouraged. "The doctors said that you have bad dreams at night, and these will help with those."

From experience, I know that they don't. I still dream, and I remember those dreams. They were terrifying, but the pills kept me asleep and stuck inside of them.

I sighed and took the pills from Dad's hand and swallowed them with a drink of water. I settled down in bed, and Dad tied the length of fabric that was attached to the bed frame around my wrist. "Thanks, Dad," I said.

I didn't enjoy being tied to my bed, but I was so used to it now that it felt unnatural to not be. No one said that I had to be tied down, but Dad said that the doctors told him that sometimes after staying in the hospital for a while, patients prefer that. We tried it out one night at home, and it made me feel less anxious, for some reason.

"Goodnight, Son," Dad responded, patting my head. "I will see both you and your sister in the morning for breakfast."

The nighttime pills were already starting to take effect, and my eyes closed the instant my dad left the room and didn't open again until the morning, despite the dreams.

As the days went on, I took the same drugs, and the chemicals continually accumulated inside of me, making everything blend together. Eventually, Dad said that I didn't have to take the nighttime pills anymore, and that made me feel a little better, but I barely noticed the world anymore. Everything blurred together into one, seamless routine. That is until, I had to go back into the hospital for a follow up session with the therapist I was assigned when I was moved down to the Observation Level.

Dad and I walked up to the front door, and he knocked on it. The slit at the top of the door opened, allowing us to see a pair of eyes looking out. "My son, Dib, and I are here for our scheduled follow up session."

The slit in the door closed up again, and after a few moments of clanging, the door opened. A man in a doctor's coat stood behind the door, and he waved us through. Dad and I entered the hospital, and the doctor closed the door behind us. He lead us to the elevator and hit the call button. After a few seconds, the silver doors opened, and we stepped inside. The doctor swiped his key card and hit the button for the Observation Level. The ride in the elevator was brief, and the walk to my therapist's office passed by unnoticed.

"Here you are, Dib," the doctor said, opening the door. "Your father will be waiting just out here for you when you're finished."

I glanced back at my dad as he went to sit down in a small waiting area with two other parents. "I'll see you soon, Son," he declared, pulling out his electronic work pad.

I wandered the rest of the way into my therapist's office and sat down on the couch. This level was so much nicer than what was upstairs. The lights were brighter, there were more windows, and the beds were much more comfortable. We could go outside, and the food was better. I didn't know the reason for the stark contrast, but when I was moved down here, the difference was welcome.

"Hello, Dib," came the familiar voice of my therapist, Delwin. He came in through a different door, a binder and a pen in hand. He sat down in the chair across from me and turned to a page in the binder before looking up at me with a pleasant smile. "Long time, no see. How has your month home been?"

Has it been a month? "Good," I muttered. "Dad's been around more."

"Any nightmares?"

I wanted to lie because I didn't want to talk about them, but I knew what the consequences of lying would be. "Yes."

Delwin marked something down on his paper. "What are they about?"

"The tank mostly," I whispered. "I dream that I won't come back out of it."

"Ah," Delwin voiced. "That's your subconscious telling you that some part of you, no matter how small, is still hanging onto the hope that you were right about Zim. You let that hope go, and you'll stop having those dreams."

"But I know I wasn't right," I countered.

"I know, Dib, but everyone on the planet wants to be right about what they believe, and when that belief is proven to be wrong, it hurts. A small part of that person will still hold onto their previous beliefs just to make it hurt less."

I nodded.

"So you've gone back to school. Is Zim still in your class?"

"Yes," I answered. "He's still weird, though."

Delwin marked things down on his paper again. "Weird how?"

"He's just weird. He gets very common words wrong and yells for no reason," I explained, thinking through the past month.

"What words does he get wrong?" my therapist wondered.

I looked at him pointedly. "He calls whipped cream 'whippy cream'. It's just stuff like that. He called a muffin a 'pork cow' once. And a cow is beef. Not pork!" I took a breath, realizing that my voice was raising and that my speech was speeding up. Zim's just strange, so why did talking about him make me so anxious?

Delwin marked a few more things down. "It's good that you're recognizing when you're getting anxious," he congratulated. "What do you think the reason for him getting those words wrong could be?"

I thought for a moment. "Well, he does have a skin condition that looks to be pretty serious because he has no ears and water burns him on contact, so maybe he spent a lot of time in the hospital? He might not have been exposed to a lot of common sayings."

"Yes, that's a logical explanation," Delwin agreed. "Do you think it's a good idea to talk to him?"

I almost scoffed. "No. Zim and I aren't friends. We were enemies in elementary school. There was that whole water balloon war, and we'd pummel each other every chance we got."

The rest of the session drifted by like that. I would do most of the talking, but Delwin would ask questions every now and then, occasionally marking things down on his paper. At the end of the two hour session, Delwin walked me out, and led me to my father, who instantly rose from his seat. "How did it go?" he asked, a slight urgency in his voice that almost made it sound like a demand.

"It went well," Delwin answered. "I think that he can stay off of those nighttime pills, and continue his school work, though I would recommend a bit more interaction with others. It would help with the nightmares and his depression."

"Agreed," Dad said, checking his watch. "My lab is still open, and you're already out of school for the day," he looked down at me, "so what do you say to helping me with some experiments today?"

Getting a chance to do real science would be a nice distraction than dwelling on what an idiot I was for believing in my delusions. I nodded.

"Excellent!" Dad exclaimed.

"I'd watch him, though," Delwin cautioned. "Some of the medicines he's on can make him a little unsteady."

Dad chuckled. "Of course. I'll be by his side all day."

* * *

At Dad's lab, I helped him do various interesting experiments, though I mostly did the calculations because my hands were too shaky due to the medications I was on. We tested and retested the results of our experiments. Even though some tests would literally explode in our faces, it was the best day I've had since I came back from the hospital. Dad spent all day with me, and he didn't accuse me of being insane and nor did anyone else. Everyone at the lab was on my level of intelligence, so I didn't have to dumb anything down like I did at school. I was disappointed when we had to go home at the end of the day.

Now, I understood why Dad always spent so much time at his labs.

We had dinner with Gaz, and when I went to bed that night, I didn't have nightmares. Delwin was right: actually going outside did make me feel better.


	13. Interlude

“So...what do we do now?” Purple wondered. “We’ve conquered all of the planets that were on the list for Impending Doom 2, so now what?”

Red contemplated for a moment. “Well, there’s always Zim’s planet, Earth.”

“But that would mean going near him,” Purple complained. “And didn’t we banish him to avoid that?”

“Good point,” Red agreed. 

“But based on Zim’s ‘reports’ Earth has the exact same snacks that we do…” Purple added.

“That’s true. And it’s either go conquer Earth or just sit here bored.”

Red and Purple sat in silence for a moment before looking at each other and smirking. Red turned to the pilot of the Massive and ordered, “You! Lock onto the signal coming from Zim’s base and pilot the Massive towards planet Earth. We’re going conquering.”


	14. Zim: This Familial Unit

Over the months that passed, I made plan after plan to annihilate the human race, but they all seemed flawed. If I thought through the plans logically, there was nothing wrong with them, but every time I started one, it felt wrong somehow.

What was wrong with me?

Dib seemed to gain a little weight, and he gradually stopped falling asleep in class, but he was still slow, as if muddled. Every now and then, he would have moments of what looked to be clarity, but they would quickly fade, and he would have to read something multiple times to understand it.

I was relieved to leave Dib's sad face behind and retreat into my base, and I was ecstatic to hear my telecom ring. I instantly banished GIR upstairs and turned on the screen. "My Tallest!" I exclaimed. "You have never called be before!"

"No, Zim, we haven't," Red agreed. "And we actually have good news."

A small gasp came out of me. "What is it, my Tallest!"

"We're coming to Earth to take it over for snacks!" Purple shouted before shoving a handful of potato chips into his mouth.

"Oh, thank you, my Tallest!" I shouted. "I just knew that one day you would see my brilliant work for what it is! When are you coming?"

"We're on our way right now," Red informed. "We should be there in a few days. A week or so. We're locked onto the signal coming from your base, so if you get a warning that there's someone tracking you, it's probably just us."

"Oh, thank you, my Tallest! Thank you, thank you, thank you! I cannot wait for you to get here so that we can _crush_ the humans together!"

"Yeah, Zim," Red said. "We'll discuss more while we're on our way."

I opened my mouth to speak again, but then they cut the transmission. I stood there for a few moments, wrapping my mind over the fact that they were actually coming. And I wasn't forcing them by taking over their ship and dragging them here.

I rushed upstairs to find GIR rolling around on the floor with a pig. Where he got a pig, I have no idea, but I've gotten used to his crazy antics. "GIR!" I yelled, catching his attention.

GIR's eyes flashed red as he got to his feet. "Yes, my lord!"

"The Tallest are coming to Earth and will be here in about a week. We need to make this base and this world ready for them. So if you make a mess before they come, _you're_ cleaning it up!"

The red color in GIR's eyes faded back to blue, and he said, "Then I guess I should get MiniMoose back and put this pig back in the park."

"Sure, whatever," I permissed. "Just leave me alone for a few hours so that I can gather all of my plans together."

* * *

The week until the Tallest's arrival passed by much too slowly, and it didn't help that Dib seemed to be backtracking. He was starting to lose weight again, and resumed falling asleep in class. I didn't know what was going on with him.

As I was gathering plans, I overheard GIR's TV, and found out that the humans spotted what must be the Tallest's ship. Most of them seemed to think that it was a large meteor, but I still had to get rid of any evidence of the Tallest's arrival. The program GIR was watching said that they were bringing in Professor Membrane to help assess the situation. That was the Dib human's male parental unit, wasn't it? How convenient. I already knew where he lived.

That night, I left GIR and Minimoose locked in the house as I snuck into Dib's house through an open window. It turns out that the window lead into Dib's quarters. He was lying on his bed with his glasses off and his eyes closed, his hand tied to the bed frame with rope. I jumped over him and landed silently on the floor, making my way towards the door.

"No, no," someone whispered. I turned around to find Dib rolling around in bed. "No aliens. Not real," he muttered. "They're coming to Earth....They can't be. I'm sorry." His hand that was tied to the bed frame clenched and unclenched over and over again as he repeated what he said before. I didn't know Dib talked in his sleep. It would have been entertaining if his words weren't so depressing.

I left the Dib Stink to mutter to himself as I silently made my way through the house. I went down the stairs and found Gaz sitting on the couch with her male parent, both of them with controllers in their hands as they played some kind of game on the TV. I snuck past them and went towards the basement stairs. I entered the Membrane lab and silently searched the place.

After a few minutes, I found a drawer labeled "Space Research". I opened the drawer and found file folders filled with pictures, graphs and charts as well as some kind of small electronic device that I've previously heard described as a flashdrive. I stuffed them all inside my PAK, excitedly anticipating destroying the files at my base. I quietly made my way back out of the lab, up through the house and back to Dib's quarters. I used the mechanical legs that extended out of my PAK to silently cling to the ceiling and go over Dib.

The Dib Human screamed below me, and I froze, thinking that I had woken him. He would summon his parent and then I'd be caught without my disguise. I glanced down and found that the Stink Boy was writhing on his bed, his eyes squeezed shut. It looked like he was trying to get away from something. The rope that was tying him to his bed was pulled so tightly I could hear the fibers creaking.

The louder noise of footsteps running up the stairs caught my attention, and I dove out of the open window, clinging to the outside wall.

"Dib, wake up!" a voice yelled. It sounded like the Dib Human's parent.

"Dad!" Dib shouted.

"It was just a dream, son," the parent informed, his voice softer than before but no less urgent. "You haven't had one like this in weeks. Are you alright?"

There was silence for several moments, so out of curiosity, I peeked over the windowsill and into the room, finding the Dib Thing and his parent with their arms wrapped around each other.

I ducked back down as they broke apart. What were they doing? It looked to be affectionate, but I thought that human affection was pain-based because of what happened with Tak, though it does occur to me that Tak was Irken, meaning that she was faking it. And Dib did say that she hated me. Could I have had human affection wrong?

I quietly climbed down the wall and quickly made my way back to my base. "Computer!" I demanded as I entered my lab. "I need you to do some research for me on human affection."

"Ugh. I thought we did that already," the computer groaned.

"I said research!" I ordered. "Obey me! I am _Zim_!"

"Fine," the computer sighed as the door to the lab slid open.

GIR ran through with Minimoose on his head. "Soooooooo, how was the triiiip?" GIR wondered.

"Fine," I dismissed. "I acquired the data the humans had." I grabbed the files and the flash drive out of my PAK and passed them to GIR. "Here. Destroy these."

"Oooooooooo…...Okay!" GIR yelled gleefully.

"Research on human affection complete," the computer interjected.

"You lookin' at loooove?" GIR asked.

"What!" I shouted. "No! I'm done with love after that _accursed_ Valentines Day!"

"Then why'd you ask me to research it?" the computer inquired.

"I'm talking about affection between parents and their children!" I corrected.

"Oh. Well, then I researched the wrong thing. Give me a minute," the computer said.

"Well, I was gonna show you this." Minimoose floated off of GIR's head with a squeak, and GIR opened up the compartment in the top of his head. He reached in and brought out a DVD case and handed it to me.

I took the case from him and looked at the cover. It had a man holding a woman in the rain with their faces uncomfortably close together with the words "The Notebook" at the top. I turned it over and glanced at the pictures on the back and found that same man and woman with their mouths pressing into each other. I screamed in surprise and dropped the case. "WHY WOULD YOU SHOW ME THAT?!"

"You said you were researching love!" GIR argued.

"NOT THAT LOVE!"

"Research on affection between parents and their offspring completed," the computer interrupted. "Uh...what movie were you looking at?"

"Nothing!" I dismissed. "Now put your research on screen."

The large screen flashed before filling up with data. I skimmed through it until I found information on something called hugs. "Hugs?" I repeated. "Computer! What is a _hug_?"

"It's easier to show rather than explain," the computer said before throwing up a picture on the screen. It was of an an adult female and a juvenile male. They had their arms wrapped around each other in the same way that Dib and his parent did.

"So they were hugging," I muttered aloud. "Computer! What is the purpose of these _hugs_?"

"Hugs are typically used to show affection or to comfort another person who is upset," the computer explained. "The action is not limited to family members but can be performed between friends and lovers as well."

Human affection _is_ different than I thought it was.


	15. Gaz: This Can't be Happening

As I walked down the stairs and towards the kitchen for breakfast, I heard a shout that was both enraged and afraid. "No! It's gone!"

I changed directions towards the source of the yell and found that it came from Dad's lab. He was bent over an observation table with drawers open and papers strewn everywhere. "What's gone, Dad?" I asked to satisfy my curiosity.

"The research on the approaching mass seen in space is gone, Gaz," he explained, rapidly turning around. "Who could have taken it?!"

I thought back to last night. I thought I heard someone walking around, but I dismissed it as just Dib tossing and turning upstairs--and that was only confirmed when he screamed in his sleep again. "Maybe you just misplaced it," I suggested, wanting him to calm down so that he wouldn't embarrass me at Parent-Teacher Night tonight.

"I have looked everywhere, Gaz! Someone had to have taken it! I'll have to get another copy of the paper files at the lab, but there's no replacing that flash drive." Dad straightened his posture and ran passed me. "I'll be back in time for Parent-Teacher Night tonight, Gaz. Make sure that your brother takes his medicine!"

He was gone before I knew it, but that was normal. I was more surprised that he's stuck around this long than his sudden departure. He would surprise me even more if he actually showed up tonight in the skool yard.

I walked back up the stairs to the kitchen to find Dib's pill bottles resting on the kitchen table where Dad must have placed them. I went to the cupboard and got myself a bowl of cereal when a sudden voice nearly made me jump. "Hey, Gaz."

"Hey, Dib," I muttered as I put the milk away.

"I don't have to take those today, do I?" Dib questioned as I sat down at the table with my breakfast.

"You have to, Dib," I said, taking a bite of my cereal.

I know that he hates taking those pills, and I didn't like how he acts when he does. His old self was annoying, but this new self was annoying, too. He was lethargic and couldn't focus. He prevents Dad and I from sleeping because he screams in the middle of the night sometimes, and I practically have to shout his name three times or more just to get his attention.

But I still sided with Dad and had him take those pills. Dad was actually around, now. We were a family. Maybe if Dib went back to Dad's lab every now and then, his mood would pick up again.

* * *

My anticipation for tonight made the school day fly by, much to my disappointment. I like Miss Bitters and look forward to the way she teaches each day. Dib and I met up in the skool yard where the elementary and middle schools were holding their Parent-Teacher Nights. "Have you seen Dad?" I wondered, figuring that he would meet up with Dib before finding me.

Dib shook his head.

I contained a sigh. He probably wasn't coming. Sooner or later, one of his flying screens will show up and it'll go right back to how it was before.

"Long time, no see, little Gaz," an annoyingly familiar voice interjected.

Dib tensed as he saw who was behind me, and I turned to face him. "What do you want, Zim?" I demanded.

Zim glanced around for a second. "Just wondering where your male guardian is."

The three of us stood in silence, staring at each other with a palpable tension.

"Hello, Gaz, Dib and their little foreign friend," Dad's voice greeted behind me.

I suppressed a disappointed sigh as I turned around, preparing myself to interact with nothing by a flying screen. I almost jumped in surprise when the source of the voice turned out to be our actual father. He was here.

"You made it," Dib voiced.

"I did, Son," Dad responded. "I managed to get another copy of the footage that was stolen last night, and there are investigators at our house looking into the lab to figure out who stole it."

Zim snickered beside me. I glanced at him and found his hand over his mouth as he tried to contain his laughter. I rolled my eyes and refocused on Dad as Miss Bitters approached us. She stared at Dib with a contempt expression, and Dib looked blankly back at her. "I must say that it's nice not having you in class, constantly accusing everyone of being aliens, Dib," she said.

Dib tensed at her words and glanced at the ground, saying nothing.

"And you must be Miss Bitters: my daughter's teacher," Dad greeted, extending one of his gloved hands.

"Yes," Bitters responded, shaking his hand. "And she is much better behaved than Dib."

Dad chuckled. "Yes, that hospital worked wonders on him. He no longer believes that anything supernatural is real at all. He doesn't even watch _Mysterious Mysteries_ anymore."

"That is an improvement," Bitters agreed.

I looked over to Dib and found that his eyes were wide and his breath was racing. His arms were wrapped around himself, and he looked like he wanted nothing more than to disappear. Dib has had enough panic attacks since he got home that it became easy for me to recognize them. They were usually triggered when anything involving aliens or the supernatural was mentioned. Dad had left me Dib's panic attack pills in case he needed them, and I grabbed them before we left for tonight. I reached into my pocket and took the pill bottle out, offering it to Dib.

He glanced at my hand, slowly taking the bottle from me. He stared at it, as if debating whether or not he should take one of the capsules inside.

A siren suddenly sounded, causing everyone to jump and glance around. Even Zim seemed slightly confused.

A moment later, there was a faint boom overhead. Everyone looked up to see a bright, orange spot racing towards us, getting bigger by the second. Dad grabbed my hand and dragged Dib and I back, taking us out of the school yard as people started to scream and scatter in their panic.

"What's going on?" Dib wondered quietly, as Dad pulled us behind a car.

"Something is crash landing on Earth," Dad explained, glaring at the ball of fire that was falling from the sky.

"What is it?" I questioned.

Dad finally looked at both Dib and I. "We never knew for sure, but it seemed to be mechanical." He paused and focused on Dib. "The only conceivable theory was alien life."

If Dib reacted to what Dad said, he didn't show it.

A deafening explosion came from somewhere near the school. I instantly covered my ears as the ground started to shake. Dad wrapped his arms around us, and a wave of dust and dirt blasted over us.

When the dirt settled back down, we were still for a moment. If I was being honest, I was afraid. Zim was incompetent, but surely he's not the only alien species that's out there. Was this species going to be like Zim, or would they actually be smart?

Dad slowly let us go, and he and I cautiously looked over the hood of the car. People were starting to come out of their hiding places, though it didn't look like Miss Bitters had ever moved.

"Stay here, kids," Dad ordered. "I'm going to go check it out." Dad got up and ran back towards the school yard.

I scoffed. "Since when do I ever stay put? Come on, Dib," I got up and made my way around the car, but when I didn't hear any footsteps behind me, I paused and turned around, finding Dib still on the ground. "I said 'come on'," I growled.

Dib squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, holding the bottle of panic attack pills close to his chest.

My fists tightened in irritation. I have had enough of Dib's reclusive and nervous behavior. This is aliens. This is _his_ area of expertise. For once, the city actually needed him. I grabbed him by the collar of his blue shirt and dragged him out from behind the car.

Dib made a choking sound as he grabbed at my wrist, trying to pry me off. "Gaz!" he gasped. "Let me go."

"Oh, shut up," I ordered. "You need to snap out of it, Dib. If an actually intelligent alien is invading Earth, you would know how to stop it."

"I-I can't," he muttered as I slowed down, gradually releasing my grip on his collar. Dib slowly got to his feet and rubbed the sore skin on his neck. "I can't," he repeated.


	16. Dib: What Matters

"What do you mean you _can't_?" Gaz demanded, making my heart beat even faster.

I couldn't answer. There was too much happening too quickly. My breath was fast, and I could hear the blood thudding in my ears as my heart raced. I wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and hide, waiting for this entire thing to blow over.

Gaz shook her head and grabbed my wrist. She started pulling me towards the school yard where the thing theoretically crashed.

It had to be a meteorite. Just a meteorite. There are asteroids made out of metal. Dad's lab must have just confused the metal for mechanization. That's all.

Aliens can't be real.

When we arrived in the yard, Gaz forced our way through the gathering crowd until we got to what they were surrounding. It was a large metal ball with what looked like a parachute coming out of the top.

Definitely not a meteorite.

There was a hiss as the top gradually lifted open.

My heart hammered so quickly inside my chest that it was painful.

Once the top of the metal ball was fully open, a hand grasped the edge of the opening, and a human hoisted himself through. "Boy, that was a rough landing," he commented, nervously rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, everyone!"

"Mister Dwicky?" I gasped.

"Dib!" he shouted, jumping onto the rim of the exit. He slid down the metal pod and onto the ground. He rushed towards me and grabbed my shoulders. "You have to help!"

"Help with what?" I demanded, hitting his hands away.

"There's an alien ship from a very dangerous alien race that's coming to take over Earth," the ex-school counselor announced.

Alien ship? There's no such thing as aliens; there can't be.

But then where did Dwicky come from? I couldn't have hallucinated the whole thing like I did when he left. I'm on medications that prevent that.

Something grabbed me from behind and pulled me away from Dwicky. I looked back, and found that Dad was dragging me through the crowd along with Gaz in his other side. "We need to get to my lab, so I can corroborate this," he explained.

"Well, yeah, but why do we have to come," Gaz complained.

"You think I'm going to leave you kids alone right now?" Dad scoffed, slowing down as we arrived at his car.

Dad opened the back door and threw us into the back seat. He slammed the door closed and got into the driver's seat. He started the car and tore away from the school and towards his lab.

Aliens can't be coming because they aren't real. I must be caught in the middle of a dream of some sort. They'll hurt me if I don't get out of it.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bottle of pills I used for panic attacks. I didn't have anything to drink, but I didn't want to waste time. I opened the bottle and pulled out a pill, popping it in my mouth and swallowing it dry. I took a breath to try and bring down my heart rate.

It's alright, now. I took a pill. It will kick in soon, and this dream or hallucination or whatever it is will end. It's okay.

We reached Dad's lab as the pill took effect. It gradually slowed my heart to a resting rate, instantly making me feel calmer.

Dad parked the car, and opened his door. "Come on, kids."

Gaz and I both got out of the car and closed the doors behind us. We ran after Dad as he rushed into his lab, the doors automatically sliding open to admit us. Inside, the lab was in a panic. There were red lights flashing, alarms blaring and people running every way possible.

Dad fought through the confusion and got to a computer keyboard that had a wall-sized monitor attached. He typed in a few commands and an image of space appeared on the screen. After a few seconds, a large, pink ship came into view.

I-I recognize that ship. It belonged to Zim's leaders, didn't it? Yes, that's right. We fought over it as he tried to force it to Earth. The Massive.

"It's only a few days out…" Dad muttered, but his voice was too distant to matter. The blaring of the siren and the panicked screams of the scientists were starting to fade.

I knew this was real. It was all real. Zim, GIR, his base, this ship, everything was real.

But if Dad knew about this ship coming to Earth, did he know that aliens were real all along? If he did, why did he put me in that hospital? And why didn't Gaz stop him?

I couldn't be here anymore. My heart was beating so fast that it was about to pop out of my chest.

I took off, ducking under the running scientists until I found a small, dark corner. I slid down into it, and took the pill bottle back out of my pocket. I stared at it in my hand. Should I take another one? If Zim's leaders are invading Earth, I can't be panicking, but I also have to be able to think clearly, and I can't do that with two of these pills in my system combined with what I took this morning.

"Dib!" someone shouted, but I ignored the voice. It didn't matter. All that did matter was trying to stop these aliens.

"Dib, look at me you stupid Earth Monkey!"

"Earth Monkey"? Zim?

A three-fingered hand grabbed me around the collar and lifted me up, forcing me to look at a pair of large, pink eyes.

"You have to stop the invasion! I screwed up!"

I didn't respond. What he was saying didn't make any sense. "Stop the invasion"? But it was _his_ leaders invading. Didn't he want them to come?

Zim growled threateningly and threw me against the wall, making me drop the pill bottle. "You're useless! Whatever that hospital did to you was good for me at first, but now it's just plain irritating!" he shouted, his voice rising degree by degree. "Whatever it is, you have to fight through it, or both the Earth and you are doomed!"

The four mechanical legs extended out of Zim's pack and drew him up towards the ceiling, and he disappeared beyond a ceiling tile.

I glanced back towards where I thought I dropped the pills, but they were gone. They must have been kicked away by some of the running scientists. I guess that settles that question.

I took a breath and forced down my nerves. I had to get the rest of these drugs out of my system. Nothing mattered more than protecting the Earth.


	17. Zim: A New Threat

I stared up at the bright orange fireball that was crashing down to Earth in confusion, Surely, that wasn't the Massive.

Some of the humans panicked and ran away from the skool yard, dragging me with them. I was forced down to the ground by the humans on the other side of the skool just as a powerful wave blasted through the air. When it cleared, the humans cautiously stepped out of their hiding places, and I followed suit, curious as to what had crashed.

I approached the "landing" site and found a large metal ball. It looked to be an escape pod. There was a hiss as the top gradually lifted open. Once the top of the pod was fully open, a hand grasped the edge of the opening, and a human hoisted himself through. "Boy, that was a rough landing," he commented rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry, everyone!"

"Mister Dwicky?" a voice gasped. I glanced over and found that it was Dib who spoke.

"Dib!" the man shouted, jumping onto the rim of the exit. He slid down the escape pod and onto the ground. He rushed towards Dib and grabbed him by the shoulders. "You have to help!"

"Help with what?" Dib demanded, hitting his hands away.

"There's an alien ship from a very dangerous alien race that's coming to take over Earth," the human announced.

Alien ship? The Massive. This man must have detected them and then came back to Earth to warn the rest of the humans! I can counter that with a little warning of my own.

I didn't bother to hear the rest of the conversation. I rushed off, heading back towards my base. It didn't take me long to get there, and the moment I arrived, I tore off my human disguise and headed down to the lab.

"What you doin' home so soon?" GIR wondered, getting into the elevator with me.

"Something happened at school," I explained. "An escape pod crash landed, and a human came out, warning everyone else of the impending invasion. I'm going to inform the Tallest so that they can be prepared for resistance. However minimalistic it may be."

Once the elevator stopped, I made my way to the communication station and opened a line to the Massive. It was answered after a minute or two by Red and Purple standing there with drinks in their hands. "What is it Zim?" Red questioned.

"I am here to inform you that a human has just crash landed back on Earth. He knows that you plan to invade the planet and is proceeding to warn the rest of the populace," I reiterated.

"Really?" Purple wondered.

"How well do you think they'll resist?" Red asked.

I chuckled a little. "Not very well. They've sworn off using their most powerful weaponry for fear of 'endangering the human population' or some other such nonsense, so I don't think it'll be too much trouble for the likes of the _mighty IRKEN __**ARMADA!**_"

"Understood, Zim," Red answered.

"Hey!" Purple interjected. "Is there any place we should attack first? If they're not going to resist, then we should at least get a little fun out of it."

I thought for a moment. "Not really. It's pretty much all the same, but I do have one request." The Tallest didn't answer, but waited for me to finish. "That you do not kill or capture this particular human." I forwarded them my file picture of Dib. "He has been quite a nuisance to me during this mission, and I can't think of a better way to punish him than letting him watch his whole planet be _destroyed_ and not be able to do a single thing about it."

The Tallest turned to each other for a moment before looking back to me. "Look, Zim," Red began, "we didn't even plan on coming to this planet, so I don't think we'll be able to indulge any requests like that."

I suppressed a gasp, but couldn't hide the twitch in my antenna. "What do you mean you 'weren't planning on coming'?"

"I think it's time we tell him," Purple voiced before sipping on his drink. "I mean, it's not like we can keep sending him into deep space for the rest of our lives just to avoid him."

Avoid me? What did he mean by that?

"Yeah, you're probably right," Red agreed. "That would be even more annoying." Red looked back up at me. "We weren't planning on coming to your planet because we didn't even know you had a planet." I was shocked. I couldn't even respond. Red continued, "We sent you that far into space to get rid of you. We didn't even know there was a planet there."

"What do you mean?!" I yelled. "You wanted me gone!?"

"More like dead!" Purple added. "So imagine our surprise when you called us!"

"But look on the bright side!" Red offered. "You'll get to contribute to Impending Doom Two for real this time!"

"But after that, it's back to flipping burgers," Purple finished.

"Not back to Sizlore!" I shouted.

"You're still banished, Zim," Red explained. "And you will remain banished and stripped of your rank until the Control Brain determines that you have repaid your debt."

"What debt?" I asked.

"The debt you gathered when you blew up the entire armada!" Purple answered.

"Anyways, we'll be there in about three days," Red said. "We're certainly looking forward to all those snacks!" The Tallest both laughed as they cut the transmission.

All I could do was sit there in silence for a little while. I didn't know what to do. My mission, my entire life since Impending Doom One was a lie. Tak said that the Tallest had lied to me, and Sizlore even showed me that my PAK still had me encoded as a food service drone, but I didn't believe any of it. I knew the Tallest when we were all just smeeches! I thought we had a good relationship! Apparently not.

"Master, the Tallest cut the transmission a half hour ago," the Computer said.

"Oh, yeah," I muttered, "They did, didn't they?"

They wanted the Earth, but they didn't want me. If that was the case, I wouldn't let them have the Earth, either. "They either get both or nothing!" I exclaimed, standing up from my chair.

"What you say?" GIR wondered, looking up from the card game that he was playing with Minimoose.

"The Tallest Think that they can reject the mighty ZIM?! Well, it is I who will reject them!" I shouted. "They will not take the Earth, and I know just the person to help me defend it."

* * *

Since Dib's parent was investigating the approaching Massive, the best place to look for Dib would be at his lab. I quickly made my way there, forgetting my disguise in my haste. Once I reached the lab, I used the mechanical legs from my PAK to reach up to the roof. From there, I made my way into the ventilation system, and I searched for Dib by looking through the vents.

After what felt like hours of searching, straining to see through the panicking humans' stampede, I found Dib running into a corner and sliding down on the floor. It looked like he was trying to hide.

I used my PAK's legs to cut through the metal vent and lower myself down onto the floor. I was acutely aware of how dangerous it was to be in this lab without my disguise, but it wouldn't matter in three days when they knew Irkens existed, and the human's panic made them blind to everything that wasn't in their immediate line of sight.

I fought my way over to Dib and called his name. He didn't respond, even when I was right in front of him. "Dib, look at me, you stupid Earth Monkey!" I shouted.

Dib still did nothing. He just stared at the white bottle he had in his hand. I grabbed him around the collar and lifted him up, forcing him to look at me. "You have to stop the invasion! I screwed up!" I yelled.

I didn't know how I screwed up, just that I did. Maybe by letting myself be fooled by those Tallest traitors?

I growled threateningly and threw him against the wall when he didn't answer. The bottle he was holding clattered to the floor and was quickly kicked away by many human feet. "You're useless!" I cried. "Whatever that hospital did to you was good for me at first, but now it's just plain irritating! Whatever it is, you have to fight through it, or both the Earth and you are doomed!"

The four mechanical legs extended out of my PAK and drew me up towards the ceiling. I shifted a ceiling tile out of the way and from there, made my way back into the ventilation system.

* * *

A few hours later, I had my disguise back on, and I, as well as GIR, was waiting outside Dib's parent's lab with the humans. Dib's male parent said that there would be some sort of announcement.

Dib's parent stepped up to the stand and cleared his throat. "Well, I think we all know why we're here, and why this announcement is being broadcast around the world. The former school counselor, Mister Dwicky—" He gestured behind him to the human who had crash landed a few hours ago, "—has warned us of an impending invasion by a very powerful alien race. We have officially corroborated his claim. It is real." Dib's male parent paused, glancing back at Dib and Gaz who were sitting next to Dwicky, as the humans around me gasped. He turned back to the stirring crowd but didn't say anything. Then he put his hands to his face as his shoulders started to bounce rapidly for some odd reason. I think I've previously heard it described as crying. "I'm sorry, Dib," he whispered. "You're the only one who would know what to do because you've studied these creatures all your life."

I rolled my eyes at his pathetic display. If this adult man was supposed to protect the Earth instead of Dib, those dirty traitors of Tallest scum have won the Earth already.

I pushed my way through the crowd and climbed up onto the stage, shoving the scientist aside. I glanced at the mics on his podium, but quickly decided that it would be best not to distract the swarm of humans by reaching for them. Instead, I decided to let my superior Irken voice deliver my message to the masses. I cleared my throat and announced, "Attention all you earth slorps! The Dib is broken because you were all too idiotic to listen. All of you were so incredibly stupid to think that you're all alone in this universe. _**HA! **_Now, Zim is your last hope so you will listen to me or you are all doomed!"

The crowd quieted a little at the sound of my voice, and they turned their attention to me, at last.

"Alright, kid, get off the stage," someone requested.

"Yeah," another agreed. "Let Professor Membrane finish his announcement."

I turned around to see two males in black body armor holding what looked like shock prods. If they think they can force me off this stage, they have another thing coming. Nothing will stop me from preventing my former Tallest from taking my project from me.

I ignored them and turned back to the humans, who were now hanging on my every word. "Dib is not the only one to know about other lifeforms! I listened to his rantings as he constantly accused me of being one of them, so I am your best and only bet to stop this impending alien _DOOM!"_

An unexpected and hot pain stabbed me in the back. I shouted in surprise and whip around to see that the two males had activated their weapons. They advanced towards me, brandishing their prods, and I backed away. The only way I could defend myself was by using my PAK, but that would reveal my true identity, and if these pitiful humans were going to listen to me, they had to believe I was one of them!

One of the men thrust his prod towards me, and I ducked under it, only to be stabbed by the second man. It seems that they turned the voltage up on their weapons because I felt this one right down to my squeedily spooch.

I groaned as the other man shocked me with his prod. I barely even thought of using my PAK, but it acted on my amazing self-preservation instinct. The legs from my PAK automatically extended and raised me up out of the range of their shock prods.

Everyone nearby made some noise of exclamation at this.

"Oh, so we're showing everyone, Master?" GIR wondered from down below.

I looked down at him, hastily ordering, "GIR, no!"

I barely got the words out before GIR had removed his clever dog disguise, revealing his robot self.

And I finally noticed that my black wig was on the ground next to him. It must have gotten caught on one of the men's shock prods as I got out of the way! Everything was ruined! There was no way these idiotic humans would listen to me now!

My balance was thrown off by a sudden impact, and I fell to the ground. I looked up to see the human that came from space standing above me with a projectile weapon in his hand. He was glaring at me with his finger on the trigger. "He's one of them!" the space human shouted. "He's Irken! He _has_ to be working with them!"

The man moved his thumb, and the weapon made a clicking sound. I've overheard enough of GIR's movies to know that he was about to pull the trigger. And that there wasn't enough time to get out of the way. I braced myself as a deafening bang hurt my antenna.

But there wasn't any pain or anything.

I looked back up to see Dib in front of me, some sort of long, metal rod in his hands. He was forcing the man's weapon upwards, and there was a thin trail of smoke coming from the barrel. "You shouldn't do that," Dib muttered, his voice more low and menacing than I've ever heard it.


	18. Dib: Unlikely Alliances

Eventually, I managed to pick myself up from the ground and begin looking for wherever Dad and Gaz had gone, but I couldn't get Zim's words out of my head. What did he mean when he said that he screwed up? The only way to find out what was really going on is to find him and ask him myself, but there was no way that he would stick around here, and I doubted that my dad would let me leave to go find him.

I found Dad and Gaz near where I left them before. Dad was urgently discussing with another scientist and all but ignored my reentry. "What did I miss, Gaz?" I wondered quietly.

"You left?" she questioned, though it sounded more like a statement than a question. "Dad is wondering if they should warn the world or take care of it themselves."

"It's not like they don't already know," Dad barked at the other scientist. "Reports of Dwicky's crash landing are bound to start circulating soon, if they haven't already."

"But there'll be mass panic if we confirm the existence of alien life!" the other man argued.

Dad glanced at me before shaking his head and turning back to the scientist. "But if the invasion is going to be here in only three days like Dwicky said, it would be better to enlist the entire planet's help, wouldn't it?"

The two went back and forth for a while, and I started to tune them out, thinking more about what Zim had said. Does he want to work with me and protect the Earth? It sounded like it, but what had changed to make him want to save Earth rather than destroy it? He has saved the Earth before, but wasn't this his leaders? Wasn't this how he _wanted_ to destroy us?

"Hey, Dib," Gaz voiced, pulling me from my thoughts. I looked at her. "Could you hold onto this? It's annoying to carry."

She held out a small tube, offering it to me. I took it from her and realized that it was her retractable bo staff that I had electrified. I looked back at her. "Don't you need this?"

"Doubt it," she muttered as she pulled out her Game Slave. "If Earth is being invaded, I'd rather finish this game than hold onto it."

"Dib," Dad interjected, "can I speak to you for a moment?"

The other scientist scoffed and rolled his eyes, gathering some files before walking away.

I nodded and followed my dad away from the main part of the lab. Most of the chaos had calmed now that people were getting a grasp of the situation. The red lights were still flashing, but the alarm had been turned off.

Once we were away from everyone, Dad turned to me and got down on one knee so that we could be eye level. He took several halted breaths, like he was continually changing his mind on what to say. He briefly glanced down at the ground before looking me square in the eye. "Do you know how to stop these things?"

I was so surprised by his question that I couldn't say anything, not that I knew the answer in the first place.

The two of us were silent for several moments before Dad sighed deeply and put his hand on my shoulder. "I should have never sent you to that hospital, Son," he admitted, deepening my surprise. "But you have to understand. I thought that…." He sighed again. "The scientific probability of intelligent alien life is high, but when they look at Earth, they would only see dinosaurs, so the idea of one of them being here was ludicrous. But now I'm starting to think that everything you said about alien life was true."

* * *

Eventually, my dad convinced the other scientists to warn the world and enlist their help rather than covering up the situation. We met up with Dwicky and got out onto the stage that the media crew had set up, taking our seats behind the podium.

As Dad stepped up to the podium and faced the crowd, Dwicky turned to me and whispered, "So what happened while I was gone? You seem different, Dib."

My mind briefly flashed back to all that happened in the "hospital", but I forced myself to remain focused. It was a lot easier to prevent my mind from drifting now that the majority of the drugs had worn off, and the panic attack pill I took earlier was helping to keep me calm. I looked back at the former school counselor. "In all honesty, you don't want to know. What about you? What was space like?"

Dwicky opened his mouth to respond but stopped when short rasping breaths came through the speakers. I glanced towards the podium and found my dad with his hands covering his face and his shoulders bouncing, as if he was crying. "I'm sorry, Dib," he whispered. "You're the only one who would know what to do because you've studied these creatures all your life."

He was admitting it? That he, the great Professor Membrane, was wrong? On international TV?

There was a little more commotion in the crowd as someone forced their way through and onto the stage. Zim. And of course, GIR. He turned around to face the audience and the cameras and announced, "Attention all you earth slorps! The Dib is broken because you were all too idiotic to listen. All of you were so incredibly stupid to think that you're all alone in this universe. _**HA! **_Now, Zim is your last hope so you will listen to me or you are doomed!"

The crowd quieted a little at his words, and Dwicky seemed to be strangely focused on him.

Two security guards in black body armor made their way onto the stage behind Zim, and one of them requested that he get off of the platform. "Yeah," the other agreed. "Let Professor Membrane finish his announcement."

Zim briefly glanced at the guards before turning back to the people. "Dib is not the only one to know about other lifeforms! I listened to his rantings as he constantly accused me of being one of them, so I am your best and only bet to stop this impending alien _DOOM!"_

Yeah. _That's_ why he knows how to stop his own leaders.

The first guard thrust his shock prod into Zim's back, finally making him pay attention to them. The two advanced towards Zim, and one of the men jabbed him again. He ducked under it, but was stabbed by the second man.

The whole thing reminded me too much of my first night in the Crazy House for Boys, and I instinctively reached for the electrified bo staff Gaz gave me in my pocket.

Zim groaned, and as one of the two guards went to shock Zim again, the four mechanical legs from his pack extended and raised him high out of their reach. Something black drifted to the floor, and I looked down to find Zim's wig.

"Oh, so we're showing everyone, Master?" GIR wondered, looking up at Zim.

"GIR, no!" Zim had barely gotten the words out before GIR had removed his bad disguise and revealed himself.

Dwicky growled next to me as he slipped his hand into his pocket. "He's Irken," he muttered threateningly. "With a SIR Unit and all."

Dwicky rushed up from his chair and charged at Zim's mechanical legs. He tackled one of the legs, throwing Zim's balance off enough to throw him to the ground. Dwicky whipped out a handgun and pointed it a Zim's head, instantly disabling the safety. "He's one of them!" he shouted. "He's Irken! He _has_ to be working with them!"

I brought out Gaz's bo staff and extended it like she had taught me. Was I really going to do this? Was I going to save my enemy from death?

If only to protect the Earth.

I rushed forward and knocked Dwicky's hand upwards just as he pulled the trigger. I flinched at the sound, but the bullet still went up into the sky rather than into Zim. "You shouldn't do that," I warned. I forced Dwicky's hand away so forcefully that he dropped his gun. I kicked it away and looked back up at him. "He might be Irken, but I know him. He asked me to help him stop his leaders from taking over the Earth. He wouldn't do that if he wanted them here."

"It's a trick!" someone from the crowd yelled.

"The Dib human is right!" Zim countered as he got up from the ground, dusting off his pink tunic. "The so called 'Tallest' have fallen out of my favor, and because of that I will prevent them from accomplishing what they have been wanting since before I even came to Earth: taking over all of the planets they can during Operation: Impending Doom Two!"

"Your leaders are just taller than everyone else?" Dad questioned from the podium.

Zim glanced between us. "Wow. Genetics at work, huh?"

"Anyways," I interjected, "it doesn't exactly matter what happened. What we need is a way to defend the Earth, and it's not like we have space ships."

"What?!" Zim shouted. "Good thing I chose to help you. You'd be helpless without me!"

"The closest technology we have to your Voot Cruiser is a rocket, but they take years to assemble and have no offensive capability," I explained. "If we can somehow reverse engineer your technology and attach it to say...an Air Force fighter jet, we might have a better chance."

"Why would you trust him!" Dwicky demanded, receiving a noise of approval from the crowd as they started to surge towards the stage.

"He's probably tricking us!"

"I thought you hated Zim!"

"Why would you listen to anything he has to say?"

"Quiet!" someone ordered through the microphone, yelling so loudly that the speakers rang. Everyone looked over to the podium and found Gaz at the microphone. "If Dib says he can stop the invasion, you all BETTER LISTEN!"

"My daughter is right," my dad added, joining her at the microphone. "My son trusts him, and believes him to be an ally, therefore, so do I. He will be placed under my protection as they work together to stop this invasion."

"You can't be serious!" Dwicky demanded, receiving an uproar of agreement from the crowd.

Dad nodded towards the guards, and they went around Zim and me to stand between us and the audience as they started to surge towards the stage. The guards gradually moved backwards, forcing Zim and I to back up. Eventually, Zim, GIR, Dad, Gaz and I ended up back in the lab.

"Well, at least I can take these stupid lenses off," Zim voiced, taking his contacts out and revealing his double pupiled, pink eyes. "I've hated these things since day one!"

"So what happened between you and your leaders?" I wondered.

"Nothing that concerns you, Dib Stink! And they're _not_ my leaders," Zim yelled.

"So what's your plan, Son?" Dad interjected.

I looked up at him, and from what I could see of his face, it seemed like he was smiling. "I need to call the Swollen Eyeball," I answered. "They can help us a lot more than conventional science."

"What's a Swollen Eyeball?" Dad wondered.

"No time to explain," I reminded. "I just need to get back home so I can contact them." I glanced at Zim. "And he should come with me."

"What! Why?" he yelled. "If anything, I need to go back to my base to get my Voot Cruiser. That way, you people can attempt to reverse engineer the capabilities of my amazing ship!"

"Well, I still have Tak's ship in my garage!" I countered. Then a thought occurred to me. "I do still have Tak's ship, right?" I wondered, looking towards Gaz, fearing that it was confiscated while I was in the hospital or something.

"No one had any reason to go into the garage, Dib," she muttered, not looking up from her game. "Not even Dad."

"I'll take that as a yes," I said.

"You mean you've had an alien ship in our garage the whole time?" Dad questioned, his voice rising in surprise.

"Yes, Dad," I sighed. Though the fact that he was finally accepting all of this made me happier than I've been in a while, I didn't have time to answer all of his questions. "Let's just go."

* * *

I bolted out of the car and into the house, Zim calling after me, "Hey, wait a minute? Where's Tak's ship, Earth Monkey?"

I ignored him as I ran up the stairs and into my room. It looked the same as it had this morning. For some reason, I expected it to look different. I expected the posters to be back up and the pill bottles by my bed to be gone.

I shook my head and went to my closet. I dug through the mess inside to find my Swollen Eyeball computer that I had shoved in here when I first got back from the hospital. I didn't have the heart to get rid of it or my posters. I just shoved them in here and buried them under a mountain of clothes.

Eventually, I found it wrapped inside my long, black trench coat. I brought both to my desk and put the laptop down. I powered it up, unsure if it even still worked. I slipped my arms into the sleeves of my coat as the computer booted up. "Yes," I breathed as the Swollen Eyeball logo appeared on the screen.

I closed the computer and was about to head back downstairs when I spotted the pills on my bedside table. Both fear of the meds and disgust mixed inside of me. I still felt an obligation to take them. It was around time for me to do so anyways. I was afraid of what might happen if I didn't take them.

But I couldn't. My head was almost completely cleared.

I shoved down my fear and grabbed the three pill bottles with a shaking hand. I went into the bathroom and put my computer down near the sink. I opened the bottles one after the other and poured the contents into the toilet.

"What's taking you so long?" someone demanded, making me jump.

My heart raced like I was a child that got caught doing something wrong as I got rid of the last bottle.

I turned around and found Zim standing in the doorway looking irritated. "What're you doing?"

I relaxed slightly at seeing him and almost laughed at the irony. Seeing Zim is a relief now. I looked back at him and answered, "Just getting rid of these." I lifted the bottle for him to see, and he snatched it from my hand.

Zim held it to the light, inspecting it. "What is it?"

I flushed the toilet, getting rid of the pills all together. "They were medications I was forced to take," I muttered. "I'm not going to take them anymore."

Zim put the bottle down on the sink counter as I picked up my computer. "Good," he said, turning to leave.

I started at his words. He sent me to that hospital, and now he doesn't want me to take what they gave to me? I shook my head as I followed after him. I couldn't explain his actions at all.

We found my Dad standing outside the open garage door, staring inside. "Dad?" I called as we approached him.

"You weren't kidding about that alien ship were you?" he muttered in awe.

"Nope," I answered, entering the garage.

I climbed into the cockpit of Tak's ship and looked over the controls. It took me a moment to remember how to activate it, but when I did, Tak's voice streamed through the speakers. "How many times do I have to tell you to keep your filthy alien meat out of the cockpit?!"

The ship started to move. It got up and jumped out of the garage, launching me out of it. I grunted with the impact of landing on my back.

"HAHAHA!" Zim laughed. "Still can't control Tak's old ship, Dib?"

I groaned and got up, dusting off my coat. "But you let Gaz fly you!" I shouted at the ship.

"That's because I like her," Tak's voice hurled back.

The ship raises one of its curved engines and brought it down towards me. I jumped back, narrowly avoiding being skewered. I looked back towards Zim, who was still laughing. "Get control of it!" I ordered.

Zim stopped laughing. "Why? This is fun to watch."

"Well, you wanna get your ship, don't you?!" I shouted back, dodging another attack from the ship.

Zim hummed in contemplation, putting a hand to his chin as Tak's ship rushed at me.

I jumped to the side to avoid the attack, running into my dad. "You wanna stick it to your Tallest, don't ya?" I shouted, going out on a limb.

"I don't know what you mean by 'stick it', Dib Stink, but they _are NOT __**MY TALLEST!**_"

"It means to prove them wrong!" I quickly explained. "Prove that you're better than them!"

The ship thrust one of its engines towards me again, and I shoved Dad backwards to get us both out of the way.

"No!" Tak's voice exclaimed, making me look up to find Zim in the cockpit. "Get out of me, Zim!"

The ship started to shake like a dog trying to get dry. Zim held fast to the controls and rapidly pushed some buttons. A familiar helmet extended out of the ship and attached itself to my head. Volts of electricity shocked me all over as Tak's voice screamed.

The helmet suddenly came off, and the shocks stopped. I looked back up to Zim smirking down at me.

"Personality download complete," my voice announced, coming out of the speakers of Tak's ship.

"Not this again," I muttered.

"Don't worry," Zim ordered. "Your mistake was downloading too much of your personality into the ship. It's a delicate balance, and I put the right amount of you into the ship. Now it won't go as crazy as you."

"You can download a person's personality into a computer?" Dad gasped, rushing towards the ship in fascination.

I went after him and climbed into the cockpit next to Zim. "We don't have time for this, Dad. Let's go." I offered Dad my hand, and he took it after a second of hesitation. We got him inside, and Zim closed the windshield of the ship.

"It's a little small in here," Dad whispered.

Zim rolled his eyes and made the ship take off.


	19. Zim: Preparations

I guided Tak's old ship to hover above my base and opened the service hatch.

"Here," I said, passing Dib the controls. "You _do_ know how to fly it, right?"

"Of course, I do!" he shouted defensively, roughly taking the controls.

"I'm going to go into my base and get my own Voot, and we'll meet up back at the laboratory," I explained.

Dib nodded, and I got up from the chair and went back to the cargo area. Dib's father started to rattle off more questions as I dropped through the service hatch and onto my roof. The hatch above me closed, and the ship took off towards the lab.

I took a remote out and hit the button to open up the roof. The satellite dish retracted, and I jumped up as the roof opened. I landed on top of the Voot Cruiser and slid down to the ground.

A high pitched squeak came from behind me, and I turned to find Minimoose. "What do you want?" I demanded, only receiving another squeak in response.

"I believe he wants to come with you," the computer said from the Voot's speakers. "I think he misses GIR."

Minimoose floated over to the Voot Cruiser and used his antlers to try to open the main access hatch.

I groaned. "Oh, fine. At least you'll keep GIR busy and out of the way." I used my remote to open the Voot and jumped inside, Minimoose squeaking happily. I started up the Voot and closed the main hatch, taking off.

* * *

I lowered the Cruiser onto a landing pad that was waiting for me next to Tak's ship--though I suppose it was Dib's now. Scientists were already surrounding the ship, and even more of them rushed towards mine as I powered it down.

"Minimoose!" GIR shouted as I got out of the ship. Minimoose hastily glided over to GIR, and they ran off somewhere.

Some of the people in front of me were suddenly shoved aside, and Dib and his father came through the gap. "Ready to get to work?" Dib wondered.

"More ready than you are."

* * *

Dib and I constantly ran around for the next few days. Dib was video chatting with what he called his "secret organization", though I don't know how it can be secret if he tells everyone. I practically duplicated my Voot Cruiser's technology alone. Dib's male parent helped a little with the calculations, but that was only because I was continually distracted by GIR wanting to "help". Not to mention that people were causing a racket outside the lab protesting and shouting that they couldn't trust me.

It took two days to fully replicate the two Cruisers' offensive and defensive capabilities. I practically adapted their "fighter jets" for space flight alone. Each of the humans snuck off into a corner at different times of the day to sleep, forcing me to have to compensate for their shortcomings.

"The length of time that they can be in space is limited, so they'll have to stick close to Earth's atmosphere," Dib warned, speaking into a microphone. We were on a video conference with Earth's leaders and Dib's "secret" organization. We had sent our replication data across the world to get more of their jets. "Zim and I will fly into Earth's upper atmosphere in our ships as you guys launch your tests to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Again, Agent Mothman," a filtered voice interjected, "are you sure that you can trust this alien."

"Agent Darkbootie-" Dib began, though I interrupted, tired of this same question over and over again.

I shoved Dib out of my way and pointed at the screen. "Listen here, you Darkened Bootie! I have put up with this exact same question for the past few days, and I am sick of it! If you don't think I'm trustworthy, just think about all you will lose if you don't listen to me."

The Earth leaders seemed to glance at each other through their various screens before looking back towards us. Darkened Bootie nodded at Dib, and he pumped his fist in the air. "Yes!"

* * *

The next day was testing day. Red and Purple didn't know that I was working against them, so I asked them what time they were arriving to Earth that morning. They said sometime in the afternoon.

I quickly made my way over to the lab and found Dib. "They'll be here this afternoon," I explained.

"Then we have to start the test now," Dib announced, rushing off towards the newly built launch bay.

Membrane was doing a last-minute check with other scientists to see if the jets were ready to fly. He looked up at our entry. "When will they be here?" he questioned.

"As I have already explained," I answered, "the armada will be here sometime this afternoon."

"You didn't get anything more specific?" Membrane demanded.

"If I did, don't you think I would have told you," I countered.

"We need to do the test now," Dib interrupted. "Otherwise, we'll have no way of knowing if these jets can go into space."

"Of course. You to get to your Voots and head up," Membrane ordered. "The rest of us will get the pilots to their jets."

Dib and I went off towards our Cruisers and got inside. I was initiating the startup sequence in my Voot when a sudden voice made me jump. "Whachya_dooooo_in'?!"

I glanced behind me to find that GIR had gotten into the Voot Cruiser without my knowing. I sighed and finished starting up the Voot. "We're testing the jets," I explained. "Where's Minimoose?"

"Ooooohhhhh!" GIR cooed. "Mini is with Dib."

A shout from outside caught my attention, and I looked towards Dib's Voot. Dib was pressing himself against the controls like he was trying to get away from something. Minimoose floated into view and opened his mouth. I could almost hear his squeaking. I snickered in amusement as Dib put a hand to his chest, slowly got down from the control panel and lowered himself into the pilot seat.

Now that the engines were warmed up, I launched the Voot Cruiser into the air and turned to GIR. "How many times to I have to tell you to sit down when we launch?" I demanded.

GIR leaned a little too close to me. "But we're not going that fast."

I rolled my eyes and put the engines to full, throwing us towards the sky, and GIR towards the back of the ship. I was forced into the back of my seat, and the G-forces made it nearly impossible to breathe, but I was in space before long.

The G-forces left, and I looked out the viewport to find Dib's Cruiser racing up towards me. I opened a line to his ship and spoke into the microphone on the control panel. "Can you hear me?"

"Oh, wow!" Dib exclaimed, his voice coming through the Voot's speakers. "I've flown Mars, but I never had the chance to actually look at the Earth from space before!" Dib was looking out the viewport in amazement.

I rolled my eyes and brought the microphone closer to my mouth. "Focus! We need to be ready for the jets to leave the atmosphere!"

"Oh, right," Dib muttered, turning his attention back to what we were doing. He let out a sigh of anticipation. "Here we go."


	20. Gaz: Ready Players Four

My online friends constantly begged me to get them into the lab to see the jets as they were being converted for space travel. On the second day of experimentation, I got them in. I showed them around the place, and they were ecstatic. But that excitement escalated when we got to the jets' storage bay where the scientists, Dib, Zim, and Dad were working on them.

"Oh, this is so cool!" Sam cooed

"Reminds me of a game," Ron voiced.

"Can you imagine going up into space and playing real-life Galaga?" Jeremy added.

"Actually," I interrupted, getting my friends to look at me, "I was thinking the exact same thing. Come on. Let's go find my dad."

Eventually we found him in a lab near the hangar doing calculations with Zim and Dib. "Hey, Dad?" I called.

Dib glanced up from his papers and looked at me. "Hey, Gaz," he greeted before looking back down.

"What do you want, Gaz?" Zim demanded.

I ignored him and pulled on Dad's lab coat, pulling him out of his narrow focus. "Yes, Gaz?" he asked.

"Can my friends and I pilot some of the jets during the battle?"

Dad dropped his pencil and stood up from his chair. He dragged my friends and I out of the room and back into the hall. "Why on earth would you want to do that?" he demanded, grabbing my shoulders.

"It'll be fun," I answered.

"Yeah! Just like Galaga!" Jeremy interjected.

Dad sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "This won't be like Galaga. You'll only get one life."

"That'll just make it a challenge," Sam said.

"And just how many pilots walked out on you guys recently?" I questioned, reminding him of all of the pilots that grew so terrified at Zim's explanation of the Massive that they ran out of the briefing room and never came back.

"You're short men, and there are four people here offering to replace some of them," Ron added.

Dad was silent for a moment, staring me straight in the eyes. He sighed again, and his shoulders slumped. "There's no stopping you, is there?"

"Not a chance," I agreed.

"Alright," Dad conceded. "Have an experienced pilot take you to the hangar and familiarize yourselves with the controls. And it's a good idea for you guys to all run simulations with them before you go up."

Jeremy and Sam simultaneously shouted, "Yes!" and ran off back towards the hangar excitedly.

Ron chased after them. "Guys, wait up!"

I was about to follow them, when Dad's voice took on a somber tone. "Promise me that you'll be careful."

I nodded before going after my friends.

* * *

Over the course of that whole day and the beginning of the next, my friends and I got to know the controls of the jets and ran a few simulations. The controls were more complicated than a game controller, but it was easy for my friends and I to memorize what each button and lever did due to all our practice with flying games.

Jeremy and Sam continually swooned over how cool it was whenever we had a second, but Ron was worried. "You guys _do_ know that this isn't a game, right?"

The two quieted and turned to Ron. "Of course we do," Sam muttered. "We're defending the Earth. Our home, but…"

"It's really stressful, ya know?" Jeremy added. "If we treat it too seriously, we'll get nervous, but if we treat it like a game, we'll do better."

"Well, today's the day," I offered. "We'll find out who's strategy works better: being serious or gaming."

The intercom rang above us in the cafeteria, and Dad's voice came through the speakers. "Zim and Dib have sent word that they have exited our atmosphere. Everyone report to your jets and prepare to launch."

My friends and I ran out of the cafeteria with the other pilots, quickly making our way to our jets.

After seeing how well my friends and I worked together in the simulations, we were made a squad all our own. We would launch together, fly together, and we wouldn't have to listen to anyone else. I was confident in all of our abilities, but I couldn't deny that I was nervous. Obviously, Zim was not the standard for intelligence of his species. If the rest of them were like Tak, we would have a challenge, and based on what Zim described, their armada was more infinite than the one in Galaga.

My friends and I each got into our jets and initiated the start up sequences. I slipped the communication headset on as Ron's voice wondered, "Can you all hear me?"

"Loud and clear," Sam confirmed.

"Can I be Red 5?" Jeremy asked, getting me to smirk.

"Not the time for Star Wars references," Ron cautioned.

"Yes, you can be Red 5," I voiced, "but only if I can be Red Leader."

Jeremy laughed. "Sounds good to me, Red Leader."

This would definitely be difficult, and there was the possibility that not all of us would make it out. All the more reason to focus.

I glanced left and right at the three of them. We all gave each other as thumbs up. "Everyone good to go?" I asked.

"All good."

"Let's do this!"

"I'm ready."

"Alright, then," I said, guiding my jet to follow the line of others.

We were in a long, two jet wide line as we traveled down the runway. Every jet had a partner in their squad. They had to keep each other safe as much as possible. My partner was Ron. He drove along next to me, his eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched. Sam and Jeremy were partners and were right behind us. For once, they were quiet. There were nervous breaths coming through the speakers in my headset, and in all honesty, I was breathing heavily, too.

There was a scientist outside on the side of the runway, waving two glowing batons towards his right, telling us to speed up. We all sped up one by one, and pretty soon, I could see the two scientists at the end of the runway. They were facing us and each waving a pair of glowing batons in the air. Time to pull up.

I gently pulled back on the controls, gradually lifting my jet off of the runway. Every squadron split off towards their positions as my dad's voice came through the speakers. "Once you reach 10,000 feet, engage full thrust and prepare yourself for intense G-forces."

The upgrades that Zim and Dib did got us to that altitude in no time. "Engage full thrust," I ordered my friends.

"Roger."

"Understood."

"Got it."

My jet was all but pointed straight up at this point, so engaging the full thrust shoved me far down into my seat. I couldn't even breathe the G-forces were so intense. The only thing coming through the speakers on my headset was strained grunting as we all fought against it.

The clouds gradually parted, revealing stars, and eventually, the G-forces lessened until they disappeared. We all took deep breaths as we leveled our jets.

After a moment of labored breathing, Ron's voice came through the speakers. "We did it?"

"We did it!" Sam shouted.

I smiled in relief. At least this worked. I pressed the button to connect to Dad's radio frequency. "Dad?" I called. "Our squad made it up."

There was an instant sigh of relief. "That's great, sweetheart," he said. "Do you see Dib?"

I scanned the star-littered space until I spotted Zim and Dib's Voot Cruisers. Dib was looking around, watching the different squads of jets from all around the world as they left Earth's atmosphere. He spotted me and quickly waved before going back to what he was doing. "Yeah, I see him," I told Dad.

"Good. And promise me that the moment there's something wrong, you will pull out." There was a warning in Dad's voice that made it sound like if I didn't promise, he would ground me for life.

"Promise," I lied, instantly cutting the connection.

"Man, space is amazing!" Jeremy said in awe.

"Focus…" Ron warned.

The speakers in my headset crackle, and Zim's voice came through. "I just received a transmission from the Massive. They will be here any minute."

Dib joined in. "Everyone do a last minute check of your spare oxygen tanks, med kits and repair supplies and report back to Dad--I mean, mission control."

"You got that, everyone?" I checked.

"Yeah, we got it," Ron said. "Everyone check, but do it quickly."

I unstrapped my seat-belts and got out of my seat. I went back in the tiny cargo hold and made sure that I had two spare oxygen tanks, my med kit, repair kit and ration kit. I made sure that everything worked and was supplied properly before returning to my seat and strapping myself back in. "All good here," I informed.

"Same," Ron said.

"All good," Sam added.

"Yep," Jeremy said. "Good to go."

I opened the line back up to Dad's lab and said, "My squad's all good to go."

"Understood," acknowledged and unfamiliar voice.

"What the heck is that?" Jeremy questioned, getting me to look up.

There was a large pink ship with a triangular symbol slowly approaching. I instantly recognized it. "It's the Massive. Everyone get ready," I warned.

Voot Cruisers of various colors zoomed towards us, and the firefight for Earth started.


	21. Zim: Massive Undertaking

The second the battle for Earth began, every single communication channel was filled with warnings, orders and shouting. It was ruining my concentration, especially since I didn't need to listen to them all. The only channel I needed to listen to was Dib's, who was unfortunately my partner for this. The only reason I went along with it was because it was logical.

I silenced every channel except for Dib's just as GIR shouted, "Master, three o'clock."

I looked in that direction and found a Cruiser zooming towards me. I forced my Voot downwards to dodge it, turned around and fired my cannons. I hit my target, throwing the Cruiser towards Dib, who shot it in turn. The Cruiser was forced downwards and out of sight.

"Nice shot!" Dib congratulated.

I ignored him. "It's our job to take care of the Massive. Let's go."

Minimoose squeaked over the speakers, and Dib and I flew off towards the encroaching Massive. We fired at Voot Cruisers that were attempting to stop us, but they were no match for me--and surprisingly, not Dib either. He didn't seem to miss much, if at all, and GIR seemed to actually be focused for once.

"Zim!" Dib shouted. "Nine o'clock!"

I jerked the controls in that direction, but I didn't turn in time before I was shot. I was sent careening towards Dib and just barely managed to stop before smashing into him. A warning popped up on the control panel saying that my left engine was out and leaking fuel.

"Looks like your left engine is leaking fuel," Dib noted.

"I know that!" I yelled, turning to GIR. "GIR! Get out there, fix that leak and get the engine back up!"

He saluted me, his eyes flashing red. "Yes, my master."

He turned towards the SIR Unit's exit and left, climbing onto the outside of the ship. The alert on my controls informed me that the leak was fixed, but then, "Ooooo! What's that?!" GIR wondered.

I shouted in frustration. "AHHH! GIR! You _need_ to repair that engine now!" Without it, I could only fly in circles.

On the edge of my field of vision, a Cruiser was rushing towards me, and I tried to guide my Voot to face it so I could get it in range of my canons, but my ship was moving too slowly!

"Wheeee!" GIR exclaimed.

The ends of the other Cruiser's canons glowed, meaning that they were about to fire. I continually tried to get my Voot to target it, but it actively refused.

Then Dib's Cruiser zoomed into view, smashing into the enemy. The enemy ship was thrown far off, and Dib fired a direct hit to its right engine's fuel tank, causing it to ignite and explode.

"Take Minimoose," Dib offered. "I think he can fix you engine better than GIR."

A second later, Minimoose floated towards my ship and joined GIR on my damaged engine. "At this point, I agree," I said as the two got to work. "You know, you're not as bad a shot as I thought you'd be."

"Sir, the engine is repaired, but I don't think it'll hold for very long," my computer informed.

"Excellent!" I exclaimed, ordering GIR and Minimoose back inside. Once the two robots were inside, Dib and I started back towards the Massive.

A wall of Voot Cruisers blocked our path, and we fired away. No matter how hard we fired, the Cruisers seemed to be immovable. Suddenly, there was an explosion behind the wall of Cruisers, and a squad of four Earth jets blasted through, leaving a large hole for us to get though.

"Go ahead, Dib," Gaz's voice invited through the speakers.

"We'll watch your back," a young, unfamiliar voice added.

"Thanks, guys," Dib said before zooming through the opening. I followed after him, the two of us and the four supporting jets from behind firing at the reforming wall.

I don't know why so many Cruisers were moving against us. Largely, they should ignore Dib and I because of our ships. Someone must have reported us to the Massive.

We broke through the barrier of Cruisers, and Gaz's squad kept them busy as we approached the Massive. We flew low underneath the ship to avoid detection and came out the other side. The main docking bay for the Voots was open and empty just as I predicted.

Dib and I glided through the atmosphere-protecting forcefield and landed our ships. With any luck, they'd think our ships had gotten damaged in the fight and leave us alone to conduct repairs. We both put our ships in sleep mode as we landed. We got out and met in the middle.

I turned to Minimoose and GIR. The original plan was to have GIR guard the ships, but Dib's father didn't know how unfocused he was. Dib and I glanced at each other before turning back to the robots. "Minimoose, stay here and guard the ships," I ordered. "GIR, you come with me."

"YAAAAAYYYY!" GIR shouted.

"Quietly!" Dib hushed.

"Sorry!" GIR whispered.

Dib and I started to stealthily make our way out of the bay, and we almost managed to leave when an unfortunately familiar voice stopped us. "I figured you'd try to break in here, Zim!" Dib and I instantly stopped and turned, finding Tak on top of Dib's ship, supported by the mechanical legs from her PAK and her SIR unit behind her. "I placed myself here to stop you in case you tried to stop the invasion," she continued. "I never trusted you to support this invasion. You wouldn't have stopped my snack plan if you did. And now that I have my ship back, I can stop you."

She and her SIR Unit slithered into the cockpit of Dib's ship. She tried to wake it from sleep mode, and it worked, but only because she was now considered an intruder.

"Intruder alert!" Dib's voice shouted from the Cruiser. "Tak?! Get out of me, you filthy alien scum!" Dib's ship reared up and started to buck like a wild animal trying to shake a rider.

"You go after the Tallest," Dib ordered. "I'll deal with Tak." His eyes were narrowed in focus and anger.

My natural instinct was to be contrary to whatever Dib said, but there wasn't time for that. "Let's go, GIR!" I called, taking off down the hall. The automatic door opened up and closed behind me cutting off Tak's enraged shouts.

"Yay! Mary's doomed!" GIR yelled, though it was quieter than before.

I rolled my eyes and took out my blaster, creeping along the wall as I headed towards the bridge.


	22. Professor Membrane: Ground Control

There was nothing but shouting and blaster fire over the comms. There were different scientists and military leaders in the war room with me, and we had open conference calls to the other command centers around the world. I constantly lingered around the communications desk, straining to hear Gaz and Dib's voices through the chaos. I could only catch a few words every now and then, but it was enough to let me know that they were alive.

There was a deafening explosion outside, and it rocked the very foundation of the building. The conversation and planning in the room instantly silenced as everyone looked around in confusion.

I pointed to two random people that were next to me--turned out to be a woman in military garb and one of my scientists--and ordered, "You two, come with me!"

The three of us rushed out of the room as the others resumed helping those fighting in space. Not soon enough, we made our way outside and found smoke coming from a distant point in the city. Something zoomed over head, and I glanced up to find that several Irken ships had made it past our jets in space and were flying about in _our _atmosphere.

I put my fingers to my ear and changed the communication channel on my earpiece. I tapped into the world-wide channel and let everyone know what was happening. "Send in the auxiliary pilots and the heavy artillery we have on standby. They've broken through and are on Earth."

The two others I had brought with me switched to the same channel, confirming what I saw and hurried back inside to make preparations.

I felt so useless. I didn't know what to do. I'm a scientist, not a military strategist or soldier. My children were up in space fighting in the heart of everything, and I couldn't do a thing.

Either way, I could not just stand here. There would be time to worry about this later, but now was the time to fight.

I rushed back inside, heading towards the war room. I might not be part of the military, but strategy was all just chess, really. I could help there or make repairs to equipment in the field. That way, I could at least be of some use. Once I got to my destination, I was immediately ordered to go to the tank bay. "That's our most advanced tank," the general informed. "It's our heaviest attacker. You need to keep it up and running in case it gets hit."

I nodded and turned back around. I ran as fast as I could towards the tank hangar alongside several other soldiers. Once arrived, I scanned the room for the biggest tank and rushed towards it.

"Membrane!" the commanding officer greeted. "I see you got your new orders."

I nodded as a scientist came up to me and handed me a toolkit.

"Here's everything you need to perform repairs in the field," the officer continued. "If all goes well, we won't need you much, but-" he sighed and glanced briefly down- "that's unrealistic. We're about to take off. Get in."

I climbed the ladder up to the top of the tank and slipped inside, lowering myself down to the main controls. I opened the toolkit to take stock of what I had to work with. It wasn't much, but I suppose that they did the best they could considering how advanced the tank was.

The tank shuddered as it pulled forward. Soon after, blaster fire of both alien origin and human artillery rang through the air. The sound of every deafening shot of the tank I was inside of seemed to be exponentially louder than it should be.

I scanned the monitors and watched the firefight. The military members with me were all silent except for their commander, who was shouting orders. Though they were silent, tension radiated off of them.

Sparks flew off the control panels, and smoke started to fill the cramped chamber.

"Membrane!" the commander shouted. "We were hit hard. They damaged some of the external wiring. That's for our aiming system. Get out there and fix it!"

I nodded and stood up, opening the access hatch. I jumped up to get outside and closed the hatch behind me. I activated the magnetic components in my shoes that I installed long ago. I did it out of curiosity, and I had almost forgotten I had put them in. Little did I know that I would need them in a war zone.

I lowered myself down to the side of the tank, following the smoke to the damaged side of the tank. I opened the toolkit and took several tools out, rushing to repair the wires. The repairs were harder than they should be. I jumped at every blast that sounded too loudly or came too close. All I could think about was Dib and Gaz. I haven't heard from them directly since this battle started.

I repaired the last wire and closed my toolkit when my earpiece clicked. "Dad?"

"Gaz!" I gasped.

"I'm okay, Dad, calm down. I'm just letting you know that Dib made it through and is inside the Massive on schedule."

I sighed in relief. "Thank goodness."

"Um ...Dad?" a different voice asked.

"Dib? Are you okay?" I demanded, shielding my face from shrapnel as a Voot Cruiser blasted apart the pavement.

"Yeah, I'm fine, but we might have a complication."

"What kind of complication?" I asked, making my way back up to the top of the tank.

"There's a powerful Irken who hates me blocking my path," Dib answered.

There was a sound like a sword being unsheathed. "You'll never win!" an unfamiliar voice shouted. Must be the Irken. There was grunting and what sounded like punches landing.

"Dib?" I called. "Dib!"

"Get back in here, Membrane!" the commander ordered, his head popping out of the access hatch.

I looked towards the smoke-filled sky. "Dib, Gaz, please stay safe."

I moved to get back inside the tank, but suddenly I was on the ground. Everything hurt, and my ears were ringing. I struggled to roll myself over onto my back and looked around. There was smoke and dust and shrapnel flying through the air. Faint groaning reached my ear and I looked over to find soldiers and the commander lying on the ground. There was blood coating their skin and the ground underneath them.

"Dad!"

"Dad, answer us!"

I knew those two voices. Dib and Gaz. I couldn't help them down here on Earth, and I barely had the strength to lift my hand to remove my grimy goggles and touch my earpiece. I opened my mouth to try to speak, tell them that I'm okay, but I couldn't. All that came out was pained grunts and panting. It hurt so much. "I-I'm okay," I sighed.


	23. Gaz: Red Leader Down

"Dad! I shouted again. He said he was okay, but that was five minutes ago, and based on the tone of his voice, I didn't believe him in the slightest.

A bright light flashed right in front of me, and I jumped looking up. "Gaz, you gotta focus!" Ron's voice ordered, shaking me out of my thoughts.

"What happened?" Sam wondered.

"Nothing," I dismissed. "We gotta prevent Cruisers from chasing after Dib and Zim. Let's circle 'round and cover the hangar bay."

"Right!" Jeremy agreed.

Both of our teams took a different path, but we all ended up in the same place. We positioned ourselves in front of the bay, firing at every Cruiser that tried to break through. Warnings and shouting filled our communication channel, and honestly, it didn't sound any different than when we would battle a boss in our games.

Something rocked my jet, and the control panel started beeping rapidly. There was a red light flashing, and it said that my main fuel tank was hit.

"What was hit?" Ron demanded.

"My fuel tank," I answered, unbuckling myself. I raced to the back and grabbed and oxygen tank and a mask. "One more hit there, and I'll explode."

I brought both items back to the front and sat back down. I didn't strap myself in because several Cruisers were circling around me like vultures. I fired at them before they could do the same. Sam and Jeremy's jets soared behind them. "You need to evacuate your jet," Jeremy ordered as the two of them fired at them from behind.

"You can't risk another hit to your fuel tank," Sam added. "Not to mention that you're leaking fuel."

"You guys distract them," I requested. "Ron, fly underneath me, and I'll get in through your cargo hold."

"Roger, roger," Ron agreed.

"Hey!" Jeremy yelled. "What happened to 'No Star Wars references'?"

I slipped my oxygen mask on and connected it to the tank. I let the air flow as Ron's jet glided underneath me. "You ready?" I asked, my voice muffled by the mask.

"Yep," Ron said.

I pulled the emergency release switch and dropped. The release provided me with enough momentum to glide down to Ron's jet. I landed on his roof and pushed myself back towards his cargo opening. It opened just enough to allow me through, and immediately closed behind me. I took my mask off and rushed towards the front. I unbuckled Ron and forced him out of his seat. "Hey!" he yipped.

"Deal with it," I ordered. "My jet's gone, and there's no way I'm just gonna sit here and watch you fly."

Ron shrugged as I settled into his chair. "Fair enough."

I forced the jet forward again, making Ron lose his balance as we rejoined the fight.


	24. Dib: Tak-ing Control

Tak rushed at me, using her mechanical legs to her advantage. I jumped to the side, only to run into her SIR Unit. He shocked me with his electroprods, making me tense up in pain. When he stopped, I dropped to my knees, panting from the pain.

What was that explosion over the communication line? What happened to Dad? He didn't sound okay.

"What's wrong, Dib Stick?" Tak mockingly wondered. "Are you okay?"

I gripped Gaz's bo staff tighter as I got back on my feet, looking her directly in the eye. Dad might not be okay, but he was alive. He had to be.

I brought the bo staff in front of me, guarding my chest as I flipped the switch, letting the electricity flow through the metal. I was lucky to find the time to grab these rubber-lined gloves from the lab. I left them in my Voot Cruiser so I would remember to take them and slipped them on before take off.

Tak scanned me up and down, suspicious of my change in demeanor. I took the staff and instantly thrust the end of it into her SIR Unit's chest. The robot convulsed as the electricity coursed through it, messing with its circuitry. I drew the staff back and hooked it behind the robot's head. I dragged the thing forward, throwing it back towards Tak. The Unit didn't get back up, and its red eyes slowly dimmed until they were black. Tak looked down at it before looking back up at me, her eyes narrowing. "No!" she shouted, charging at me again.

I dodged her and hit one of her PAK's legs with my electrified staff. Tak cried out as the electricity traveled up to her PAK. She turned around, one of her four legs, curling up like she was an injured spider. She lowered herself down to the ground and trained her three remaining mechanical legs on me. One at a time, she stabbed her pointed legs at me in rapid succession. I blocked each attack, swinging my staff.

I analyzed her attacks as best as I could in the frenzy of movement. The position of her mechanical legs made her torso vulnerable. If I could get close enough, I could shock her squeedily spooch badly enough incapacitate her.

With each attack, I took one step forward, steadily getting closer to her. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see my Cruiser getting closer to us, too. It was sneaking up behind her, and Tak's hyper-focus made it invisible to her.

I was finally close enough. I blocked one last attack and rushed to stab her torso with the end of my staff. She howled in pain, and her mechanical legs twitched and flexed uncontrollably. One of her spasming legs kicked me with its sharp end, throwing me away from her. I landed hard on the ground and looked up just in time to see my ship wrapping its tentacles around Tak. My ship dragged her inside the cockpit and bound her in every way possible.

"I've got her," my voice said from the ship's speakers. "You go catch up with Zim."

I nodded before taking off through the same door that Zim left through. I switched off the electrical component to my staff as I brought up the schematics of the Massive on my watch. I made my way slowly down the hall, checking for potential enemies as I went.

The ship suddenly tilted, and I was thrown into the wall. I hissed at a pain in my side, and I grasped at it, trying to quell the pain. I pulled my hand away and realized that there was blood. Tak's last hit must have cut me. All of my medical supplies were in my ship, and I didn't have time to turn around and retrieve them.

I bundled up the end of my trench coat and pressed it against the wound as I stood back up. All I could do was hope that the cut wasn't too deep and catch up with Zim.


	25. Zim: GIR's First Rodeo

Keeping GIR quiet on the way to the bridge seemed more difficult than usual. He made a noise at every little thing we passed. But he did seem to know that something serious was going on, so one stern look from me was enough to get him to quiet down again.

I had a headset on that was similar to Tak's that let me communicate with Dib outside of our Voot Cruisers. My headset crackled, and Dib's voice came from the other line. "I'm on my way."

"You took care of Tak?" I questioned, more surprised that he could handle her than anything else.

"Yeah," Dib panted. "I knocked her out, and my ship is holding her. What's your position?"

"Take the lift three floors up and turn left," I explained.

"Okay. Wait for me."

My headset crackled again as Dib cut the communication. I suppressed a scoff at having to wait for the slow human, but there was still safety in numbers. The Massive was designed to run with minimalistic Irken interference, so they could send out as many offensive Cruisers as possible. However, that still doesn't mean that the bridge will be empty. We need to get their Tallest out of the picture or at least get them to panic enough to call a retreat.

A minute later, Dib came running up to me in the hall. He was out of breath and sweating. "Sorry...it took me...so long," he huffed.

"Spare me your apology," I dismissed. "I have no use for it."

Something dripped on the floor, and I glanced down to see a thick, red liquid splashing down one drop at a time. "What's that?" I wondered.

Dib looked down, too. He swallowed deeply. "It's blood. Tak cut my side."

"So human's blood is red?"

"Yeah. What's Irken's?"

"Pink," I stated.

"Don't we have somethin' to doooo?" GIR voiced.

"We do," Dib breathed, pressing on his side harder. "Let's go."

Dib and I resumed our course to the bridge. The Massive barely moved through the firefight going on outside. We could only catch glimpses of it here or there, but there were littered debris of both jets and Cruisers surrounding the Massive.

Eventually, we made it to the bridge's entrance. Dib flipped a switch on his bo staff causing it to whine like it was loading a high-powered charge. I extended the mechanical legs from my PAK and raised myself up to Red and Purple's height. Dib nodded to me and swung the end of his staff at the control panel next to the door. Electricity flowed over the panel, overloading it's circuitry. It sparked and exploded, the door instantly sliding open. We burst through the door. I readied my blaster, and Dib held his staff across his chest, guarding.

Red and Purple were floating at the end of the bridge and jumped at our entry. They turned around and found us at the smoking door. "Hey, Zim! What gives?" Purple questioned. "You said that there would be minimalistic resistance."

"And why did you bring that human in here?" Red added.

"Alien scum!" Dib shouted. "We're here to-"

"We're here to expel you from Earth!" I interrupted. "The Earth is _my_ mission, and I won't let you take it from me!"

The two started. "But we're not trying to-"

I didn't give Purple time to finish. I blasted him in the chest, followed quickly by Red.

The other Irkens in the chamber got up from their places at Red's orders and swarmed us, trying to defend them. Dib fought them off, expertly hitting all of them with his electrified staff. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that he had gone through Irken military training in order to fight that effectively. I blasted those that Dib couldn't knock out or fight off, hitting each of them perfectly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Red reaching for the armada-wide communication channel. Some of the Irkens had started to use their PAK's legs as well, so Dib and I were both surrounded and couldn't stop him.

"GIR!" I called.

GIR dropped down from the ceiling and onto the head of an Irken that was about to hit me, effectively knocking him out as he landed on the ground. The robot saluted me from his position on the ground. "Yes, my lord?" he said, his eyes red.

"Stop Red!" I ordered, pointing in his direction.

GIR instantly got up and launched himself towards Red.

"All soldiers to the Massive!" Red yelled into the communications line. "We're being--"

GIR landed on his shoulders and pulled on his antennae. Red shouted the worst scream of pain I've ever heard, and I almost winced in sympathy. "Tallest Red!" a soldier shouted, gaining the other's attention. They all turned and saw GIR riding him like one of those mechanical bulls I've seen on his shows.

Outside, every single one of the Voot Cruisers were streaming back towards the Massive. If I was being completely honest, I didn't know what to do. If they got in, Dib and I would be overwhelmed. We could probably beat them all, but we might not make it out in the process.

"Let them come," Dib voiced.

"What?" I questioned. "Are you _actually_ crazy, now?!"

"No!" Dib shouted defensively before messing with his staff. "I have an idea, but make sure that you're not touching anything metal when I say so."

"And why would I listen to you? Up until now, we've been following _my_ plan!"

"Do you _want_ to get knocked out?"

In all honesty, no. I didn't. So I rolled my eyes and got entertainment from watching Purple, Red and the few Irken techs and soldiers that remained wrestle with GIR.

"The majority of us have returned to the hangar bay, my Tallest," a voice said, coming from the armada communication line.

Dib spun his staff and held it vertically above his head. The sound of pounding feet reached my antennae, and I glanced back out the still smoking door and found several hundred Irkens charging towards us. I turned to Dib. "Any time now!...Little more. I want to hit as many as I can," he muttered.

The Irkens were almost at the door. "Dib!" I yelled.

"Get off the floor!" he ordered at the top of his lungs,

I used my mechanical legs to jump off the floor. GIR met me up in the air, using his jets to fly. "Where you going, master?" he wondered.

Dib slammed the end of his staff down on the ground just before he was overwhelmed with Irken soldiers. All of the Irkens twitched and convulsed, screaming in pain. As I dropped back down to the ground, Dib picked his staff back up and held it at his side. All of the Irkens surrounding us collapsed onto the floor, including Red and Purple.

"What did you do?" I questioned, just _daring_ him to try it on me, for if he did, he wouldn't see the next day.

"I keyed this staff's electrical function into the common frequency that comes off of Irken tech," Dib explained. "The more tech it encounters, the more the electrical wave is amplified. It attached itself to their PAKs and knocked them out."

"Impressive," I admitted. "When did you find the time to rig that up?"

"When I was supposed to be sleeping."

A groan sounded from the main control panel, and Purple was sitting up, reaching for the main communication line. "Retreat," he strained. "The Massive is shut down. We need to regroup."

Dib and I glanced at each other. "GIR!" I called, looking up towards him. "We're leaving!"

Dib and I ran from the chamber, skirting and jumping over unconscious and groaning Irkens. "Did it affect our ships?" I asked as we ran down the stairs because the lift no longer worked.

"Yeah, but as you can see, it's temporary," Dib panted. "Red and Purple were protected by their suits. The more complicated the tech, the less time it's shut down. Our Cruisers should be rebooted soon."

We made it to the hangar bay that was now full of Cruisers with scorch marks, dents and scrapes. It took us a minute to find our Cruisers among them, but when we did, Dib's greeted us. "What happened?" it wondered, Tak unconscious and gripped in its tentacles.

"Nothing!" Dib shouted, jumping into the cockpit. "Just get us out of here."

GIR and I got into my Voot and initiated the startup sequence. The engine sputtered for a minute, but it came back online soon enough. Dib and I took off through the hangar bay and shot back out into space. There were very few Cruisers left outside, and those that were left were rushing towards the Massive. The flag ship was gradually drifting away, putting out small bursts of energy.

Dib's voice came through the world-wide communication channel. "They're retreating," he breathed. "Once they're out of sight, head back to Earth."

There was something in his voice that almost made me worried for him. His words were beginning to slur.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part of me can't believe that I wrote GIR riding on Red's shoulders like a bull, but I did. It's one of Metasactreon's favorite parts!


	26. Gaz: If Only Respawn Worked in War

When all of the Voot Cruisers suddenly started to swarm us, I gave the order to back off the entrance to the hangar bay. There was no way we could fight them all off without being killed--especially since we were down one jet. The others didn't even give me a response, they all just bailed.

Ron stumbled and fell onto the floor with my rough change in direction. I joined Jeremy and Sam above the endless stream of Cruisers rushing into the bay. "Let's take out as many as we can from here," I suggested.

"Got it," Jeremy agreed, beginning to fire.

Sam and I did the same, and other jets came to assist us.

"No, no. It's fine. Don't apologize," Ron sighed, picking himself up from the floor.

I ignored his comment and continued to fire.

Tendrils of electricity suddenly consumed the Massive, originating from the bridge. The Cruisers who were not yet in the hanger bay, paused and backed away, taking off in any other direction.

"Hold fire!" I shouted. "Something's happened."

Everyone was quiet, and after what felt like an eternity, the Massive started to limp away, going further into space. As the remaining few Voot Cruisers followed after the flag ship, two other Cruisers came out of the hangar bay: Dib and Zim.

Dib's voice came through the world-wide channel. "They're retreating. Once they're out of sight, head back to Earth."

The jets that remained fell back into a defensive position around Earth as we watched the Irkens retreat. They gradually faded from view, and then cheers and roaring filled the world channel.

"Yeah, man!" Sam whooped.

"Now let's get back to Earth and get our awards from President Man!" Jeremy shouted, instantly turning his jet and blasting back towards Earth.

Ron chuckled as Sam followed. I joined them and the rest of the jets streaming back to where they came from.

I was relieved that it was over, and I'm glad that we defended the Earth, but who's to say that this is the last time this will happen? They or another species might return, and in that case, we'd have to be prepared.

It took a few minutes, but eventually, my team and I landed back on the ground and drove our jets back to the hangar bay. Some scientists and military members rushed up to each of our jets and placed a ladder by the cockpit. I unstrapped myself and opened the hatch, allowing Ron to exit. I slid down the ladder and turned to the military member next to me. "Where's the medical bay?" I wondered.

She told me and I took off in that direction. Once there, I scanned the faces of the scientists, military members, and civilians that were hurt. I walked through the rows and rows of cots, squeezing between doctors, but I couldn't find him. I circled through the whole room and had made it back to the entrance, but I still couldn't find my father.

"Make room!" a doctor shouted. "We got another from space!"

A team of two doctors blasted by, wheeling a bed. I only caught a brief glimpse of him, but I could recognize that curved cowlick from a mile away.

I raced after them as fast as I could. When they stopped, I kept my distance so that they could work on Dib. They took a pair of scissors and cut up through Dib's shirt, so they could see his wound. Red blood was pouring out of his side, making my heart beat even faster than it did during the battle in space.

"We need two units of O-neg!" a doctor ordered.

"We only have one," someone answered.

"Then hang it anyways!"

They hooked Dib up to a blood transfusion as the main doctor took a scalpel, cutting into him.

I looked away. I didn't want to see my brother's internal organs spilled all over a hospital bed. I needed good news. My father had to be alive. I turned towards the nearest doctor or nurse and tapped her on the shoulder. "Do you know where Professor Membrane is?" I wondered.

She tensed. "You're his daughter, aren't you?"

I nodded.

"Come with me sweetheart."

I normally would have grumbled at being called "sweetheart", but with Dib being given emergency surgery and my dad's uncertain fate, I was too uneasy to care.

The lady brought me to a different room down the hall, a room that smelled of blood, metal and smoke. On the floor were countless people all piled up. It looked like there used to be some sort of order, but there wasn't anymore. "These are everyone we've found nearby or those who've died there." She nodded back towards the med bay. "We found the Professor recently, buried under debris."

My stomach was coiling tighter and tighter with each word she said. I tentatively walked into the room and scanned the bodies. They were all broken, torn, and bloodied almost beyond recognition, but eventually, I noticed the tip of a white lab coat.

My breath caught in my throat, and I rushed towards it. I looked down and found my father. His large cowlick was frizzed and crudely cut short, his coat was torn, his skin was coated in a mixture of dirt and blood, and his goggles were gone. I can barely remember the last time I saw his real eyes. He's always had those goggles on. He looked unnatural without them.

My knees wobbled until they buckled, bringing me to the floor. There was a pain stabbing me in the chest that was even worse than when I learned what that hospital was doing to Dib. My eyes burned, but no tears fell. I couldn't even process what was in front of me. Something was telling me that this was all some elaborate ruse by my dad. That he had tested something gone wrong and was just knocked out. I felt like he would wake up any minute.

But the blood on his skin said otherwise.

Footsteps sounded, but I didn't react to them. A hand gently placed itself on my shoulder, and Ron's voice whispered, "I'm so sorry." He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me, but I didn't take my eyes off my father. Ron stood up, pulling me up from the ground with him. "Come on. Let's get you something warm to drink."

Ron guided me to the cafeteria where Jeremy and Sam were sitting at a table drinking hot cocoa.

"'Sup, guys!" Jeremy greeted.

"Where've you been?" Sam wondered.

Ron gave them a stern look. He leaned towards them as I took a seat. "Her dad died in the battle on Earth," he muttered. Sam and Jeremy both looked at me, shocked. "I'll get you that hot chocolate," Ron said, raising his voice for me to hear. "I'm sure you're still chilled from being in space."

If I was chilled, I didn't feel a thing. I was numb. My father was dead. Dib was in surgery. I could end up alone.


	27. Dib: Aftermath

“Mary?” a high-pitched voice called. “Get up, Mary! The  _ Scary Monkey Show _ is on!”

I gradually became aware of a rough tugging at the collar of my shirt as another voice demanded, “GIR! Get off him!” The voice then shuddered. “That monkey.”

I reached up to push the little robot off and opened my eyes. I couldn’t exactly tell where I was. It was too bright and all white. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was dead, but there was a beeping in the background that had to be coming from a heart monitor, and I was lying on a bed, sheets draped over me. I was in a hospital.

“You’re  _ finally  _ awake, pathetic human,” Zim’s voice berated. I looked towards its source and found him sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. “It seems like every primate on this idiotic little mud ball is trying to interrogate me on what happened in space. Now,  _ you _ can go answer their questions.”

I gave a small smile as GIR finally slid off of me and onto the edge of the bed, “Now, we can watch the  _ Scary Monkey Show _ !” he exclaimed, instantly lifting the TV remote and tuning it to that channel.

The door below the wall TV slid open, and a woman walked in. She looked at me and saw me and GIR. “Oh, good. You’re awake,” she sighed in relief. “Let me go grab your doctor and your sister.”

“Ehehehe! Whoohoohoo!” GIR laughed, throwing his arms in the air as the monkey on the screen growled.

I forced myself to sit up, grunting as a sudden pain stabbed me in the side. I gripped my side and gasped as I leaned back into the pile of pillows behind me. “What are you doing here?” I questioned, looking back at Zim.

“I told you,” he answered, messing with some device in his hands, “I’m avoiding all of the humans with cameras and flashing lights. Also GIR wanted to watch TV with you.”

The door slid open again, revealing Gaz. She closed the door behind her and immediately walked up to me. “Good to see that you’re still alive,” she muttered.

“Last I remember was the Irkens retreating,” I commented. “What happened after?”

“You ordered your ship to take you back to Earth and then passed out,” Zim voiced walking up behind Gaz. “Tak was taken as a prisoner of war.”

“I saw you wheeled in on a stretcher and then moved onto an operating table. You were unconscious,” Gaz added. “Your guts were spilled everywhere.”

“HA! How’s that for ironic?!” Zim laughed.

* * *

A few weeks after Gaz finally told me what happened to Dad was his funeral. I wasn’t cleared to actually walk yet, so I had to attend in a wheelchair. Zim interrogated me on exactly what human funerals entailed, but I didn’t have the energy to answer.

I honestly didn’t know what I felt towards my father’s death. I definitely wasn’t glad that he was gone, but I wasn’t exactly sad either. He did a lot for the world--which is why his funeral will be televised--but he didn’t really do much for me, and I’m his son. He had me locked up in an insane asylum for several months where I was tortured and drugged to the point where I couldn’t even recognize myself. He was hardly ever around, and when he was, he wasn’t all that attentive. He continually tried to force me onto his path in life, and only believed me when he had no other choice.

But those few weeks after I came out of the hospital were amazing. I actually had fun with him, and he stuck around. It was  _ he _ who was there for dinner and not a floating screen with his face. He comforted me after my nightmares, and was still there for breakfast in the morning.

Gaz carefully wheeled me up the path that lead towards Dad’s gravesite. We both kept our heads lowered to try to avoid the cameras and paparazzi, but of course it wasn’t entirely possible. They still shouted questions, completely ignoring the fact that it was a funeral. 

"So why is everyone dressed in black?" Zim questioned in a hushed voice.

"Why are you here again?" Gaz spat.

"I told you that now that the threat to Earth is gone, people aren't exactly a fan of me anymore," he explained. "If I'm on my own, who knows what they'd do."

"Just be glad that he left GIR at home," I muttered. 

"Aren't you worried about him?" Gaz asked.

"Oh, please," Zim dismissed. "If anyone on your planet can spend more than five minutes with him without pulling their hair out, they can have him."

We finally arrived at the open grave. The paparazzi in the back fell silent at last as a group of scientists from Dad's lab slowly started to come forward, a casket on their shoulders. My chest tightened more and more as they got closer. I still haven't decided how to feel. I just felt strange. I was used to him not being around, but I always knew he was in the world. But now….it was just empty.

"Why are they putting that box in the ground?" Zim whispered a little too close to my ear, making me jump.

I suppressed a gasp of surprise. "I'll tell you later," I berated, pleading that he'd stay silent. 

After the funeral, I was back in the hospital bed I had inhabited for the past few weeks. Gaz had wandered off somewhere to take some time for herself, and Zim continued to ask questions about human funerals, and didn't shut up until he was satisfied. "It did look similar to what happened after the Tallest before Red and Purple died," he added.

"It did?" I wondered, surprised.

"Yeah. We don't really do anything for death when someone dies unless they're a Tallest."

“I suppose that makes some kind of sense,” I responded. “In a weird way.”

* * *

A few more weeks passed, and I was finally cleared to leave the hospital. I was still in pain, and I couldn’t turn too fast without exasperating it, but I could go home. I wasn’t sure what state it was in, though. The rest of the city was in shambles, and though reconstruction was continuint, it was still slow going. 

Zim stuck close to me for a while since the planet’s population seemed to be split cleanly in half on whether or not they should trust him. Gradually, I convinced the world that he was, if not trustworthy, deserving of their respect for saving the Earth. They seemed to agree and cautiously backed off. That’s not to say that Zim was no longer under threat, though. Tak--being the alien she was--was taken away and experimented on. I would have participated, but my physical state was still precarious, and...I had Dad’s stuff to go through, now.

Gaz didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with it. I wasn’t sure if it was just part of how she was grieving or if she didn’t care.

The house seemed practically undamaged. There were a few chips here or there, but it looks like the forcefield Dad installed around the house held up pretty well. I pulled out my house keys from my pocket and hit the button to deactivate the forcefield. I guided my ship down into the yard and parked it in front of the garage. I deactivated the ship and jumped out, heading for the front door.

I opened the door but froze. The house seemed strangely empty. It was usually either just me, Gaz, or the two of us inside, but it still seemed hollow for some reason. 

I shook my head and entered the house anyways, closing the door behind me. I headed towards Dad’s lab in the basement, straining to keep pushing myself forward. My legs seemed to get heavier and heavier with each step.

I finally made it to the bottom of the stairs and flicked the light on. The lab was instantly illuminated. It looked exactly the same, but it felt different. My dad wasn’t here. I was here to go through his things to decide what to get rid of and what to keep. 

The air seemed to press down on my shoulders as I went through the lab, becoming harder and harder to hold up until I drifted down to the floor. I rested there on the ground, scanning my surroundings for at least one thing to go through today. My eyes eventually landed on a small drawer labeled “Dib and Gaz”.

I reached up and slid the drawer out, revealing two flash drives, one with my name written on it, and the other with Gaz’s. I retrieved my drive and closed the drawer again, standing up from the floor. I plugged the drive into a computer slot, and the screen on the wall activated, revealing the contents of the drive. There were hundreds of files. They were mostly video files, so I decided to start with the most recent one.

An image of my father in Membrane Labs appeared when I hit play. “So we’re doing the test launch tomorrow,” he said. Some strange emotion of longing rose in me at the sound of his voice, making my chest tighten. “Dib has done fine calculations, and he, my team, and I have prepared the jets. There’s really not much more for us to do other than run simulations and tweak things here or there.”

“Dad!” a different voice shouted--my voice. An image of me came running towards him on the screen. “Why are you letting Gaz fly a jet into space! She could freaking die!” 

“Well, it’s not like I’m letting her. I told her not to, but she hardly ever listens to me anymore,” he reasoned.

The image of me grumbled in frustration. “Well, I’m gonna let her have it!” I walked off.

My dad leaned closer to whatever he was using to record this. “He’ll never let her have it,” he whispered. “He’s too afraid of her.”

The video ended and automatically minimized. There was something running down my cheek, and I wiped it off to find that it was a tear. Why was I crying? I didn’t cry at his funeral, so why am I crying now?

I shook it off and skimmed through the rest of the video files. He didn’t make a video every day, but there were still innumerously many. They seemed to span my entire life. Eventually, I found the videos about the time I was in the hospital and when I came home. Out of dreaded curiosity, I clicked on the one that was dated the day I returned.

Another image of my father appeared, but he was in this lab this time. “Dib has finally come home!” he shouted. As usual, I couldn’t see much of his face, but for some reason, it seemed like he was smiling. “He does seem a little distant, but the doctors told me that that’s normal for some patients due to the medications they have him on. But either way, it will all be for his good!”

The video ended, and I clicked on one that was about a week later. “I’m sure that those doctors helped him in that hospital, but Dib had a terrible nightmare last night. He refused to tell me what it was about, though. And funnily enough, I watched him use his sheets to tie himself to his bedpost before I left his room. I asked him what it was about this morning, and he just brushed it off, saying he was more comfortable that way. And I also called his doctors about it, and they said that it wasn’t uncommon either.

It still bugs me, though. What sort of treatment would make Dib more comfortable tied to his bed?”

The next video I clicked on was about a month later. Unlike in the last few videos, Dad wasn’t standing still and looking at the camera this time. He was pacing. “Some strange, metallic mass is approaching Earth. No one is one hundred percent sure what it is, but it seems to be mechanized, and there are thousands of heat signatures coming from it. Some from my lab are starting to seriously consider that it’s of extraterrestrial origin, and in all honesty, so am I.”

He stopped pacing and sighed. “I can’t tell Dib this, though. Word of it has already reached the media, and I can tell its starting to affect him. He seems even more distant than when he came home, and his nightmares have started back up again. I...I don’t know what to do.”

I let the next video automatically play, my vision becoming more and more blurred. My dad was sitting in a chair with his arms crossed. His hands were gripping his arms so tightly, that I could hear the rubber of his gloves creaking. “I finally confronted that so called  _ hospital _ about what they did to my son. I had a lawyer look over the contract and everything. He said that the way the contract was worded made everything just inside of legal, but that doesn’t mean anything they did to him was right.” Dad paused, and he didn’t continue again for a long time. “There’s nothing I can do to fix it. That...mass is still on its way, and I’m not sure if Dib hates me for sending him there. Considering all that happened in there, it’s more than possible. I suppose that all I can do now is be there for him. Help him to move on from it. But if this approaching mass does turn out to be aliens, I’m not sure what his reaction would be.”

This video ended the same as the others, but I didn’t click on the next one. I was shaking. He cared. He didn’t know what they were doing to me, and when he learned about it, he felt guilty. 

He cared.

I shook my head and sniffed, moving on to the first few files that weren’t videos. I shoved the video messages to the back of my mind to focus on what was in front of me. I only skimmed the first few lines, but it sounded like it was about my birth and biology. I continued to scan over it but froze when I read “colloid fluid”. Why would there be colloid fluid in me?

I read it in more detail, and when my father had me, he mutated me, combining my skin with colloid fluid. It was invisible, coated my skin and created a layer of protection around all of my internal organs.

Colloid fluids were all but invincible. The harder you hit it, the more it hardened to defend itself. It essentially means that if I was shot, I’d be fine, but if I got poked by a pencil, it could make me bleed.

I was bullet proof. Bullet. Proof. My dad made me bullet proof.

“I...I’m a superhero,” I stuttered.

The crushing emotion from before instantly disappeared. It was replaced by excitement and joy. “I’m a friggen superhero!” I shouted, my voice rising with each word.

I couldn’t contain this energy. I had to burn it off! I bolted outside, running past Gaz who was on her way inside.

“Where are you going?” she called.

“I’m a superhero!” I shouted back.

I heard her mutter something sarcastic, but I ignored it, continuing to run off my energy.


	28. Zim: He Who Gets the Last of the Laughs

“Stay out here, GIR,” I ordered.

“Why?” he wondered. “What’s in there?” He pointed towards the door I was about to go through.

“Nothing for you,” I said. “Just stay out here.”

“But I want to see what’s inside,” he whined.

I groaned and suddenly thought of an idea. “Hey, GIR…”

“Huh?”

“I heard that there’s tacos in the cafeteria.”

“Really?!” he gasped, instantly screaming and taking off towards the cafeteria.

I turned back towards the door and entered, closing it behind me. I chuckled as the motion-activated lights sprang to life, revealing the Irken that was strapped to the wall, various tubes and devices sticking into her.

Tak lifted her head and cracked her eyes open. “Zim!” she yelled, her voice cracking. “What are you doing here? Go away!”

I approached her, my hands placed casually behind my back. “I just came to see how you were doing after being captured by the people you tried to destroy,” I mocked.

“It’s better than working for them,” she countered, her words gradually quieting.

“Work  _ for _ them, Tak? No. They all work for me,” I corrected. “They believe me to be the hero of the planet, and since I am now backed by one of their own, they don’t dare question me. I’m a better Invader than you could  _ ever _ be!”

The failed Invader laughed. “You were never an Invader. The Tallest banished you! They were never planning on coming to Earth!”  Her words stung slightly, and though I managed to keep that fact from showing on my face, one of my antennae still twitched.

I leaned close to her. “Well, which one of us has a whole planet worshiping them as a savior, huh?” I shouted, pointing towards her. “ _ Not you _ !”

Her eyes squinted, and she gritted her teeth in emotional pain, and I laughed at her hilarious expression, backing away from her. 

* * *

GIR was prancing after me as I made my way back to my base, my entire being still light and proud from the look on Tak’s face.

“Woah! He’s moving  _ fast _ !” GIR yelled.

I stopped and looked down at him. “What?”

He pointed down the sidewalk.

Faint screaming caught my attention, and I perked my antenna to try to make out what it was saying. “Hero!” was all I caught.

Dib eventually came into focus, and his words became more clear. “I’m a freaking superhero!” he repeated over and over again.

I rolled my eyes and turned back around, resuming my journey to my base. But suddenly, something impacted me from behind hard enough to make me lose my balance. I grunted as I fell to the ground.

“Zim!” Dib’s voice called, and I looked towards his sound to find him lying on the ground next to me.

I picked myself up from the ground. “Watch where you’re going, you sad little Earth slorp!” I ordered, dusting off my now dirty tunic.

GIR ran up to Dib as he got up, hugging him around his legs and starting to cry. “I missed this boy so much!”

Dib shook him off and came closer to me, roughly grabbing me by the arms.  “Hey!” I yelled. “Get off!”

“Punch me!” Dib demanded, making me freeze.

“What?”

He let go and gestured towards himself. “Punch me! In the face!”

“Uh…” I hesitated but shrugged. “Okay.”

I fisted my hand and smirked as I punched him in the face as hard as I could. Dib was pushed back a little ways, but I didn’t get to enjoy it because my hand suddenly screamed in pain. “Ah!” I grasped my hand and massaged it, trying to quell the pain. What the heck was that! A simple punch shouldn’t hurt this badly.

Dib threw his hands into the air and laughed! “Haha! It worked! I didn’t feel a thing!”

I glance at him, and he was fine. Not even a bruise on his jaw. That punch should have broken his nose. “What?” I wondered.

“My dad mutated me!” he loudly explained. “He only ever did one thing for me in life--” He pointed to the sky. “--and he did the best thing possible.” He looked back at me. “He made me a superhero! You wanna experiment with me?”

Dib is a mutant? No wonder it was so hard to destroy him.

“A chance to experiment on you uncontested?” I repeated. “Of course!”

* * *

Over the course of the next few days, Dib and I experimented on how much his colloid fluid could take. We dropped stones on him and had him jump off of high surfaces both with and without protective gear. When we experimented with the protective gear, he seemed to make him get more hurt than when he jumped off without it.

I was interested enough in the science of it, but Dib seemed to be having the time of his life, laughing after he came through each experiment almost unscathed. “I can do absolutely everything that I was too afraid to do before!” he exclaimed. “Hey, I have an idea.”

“What?” I wondered, not looking up from my data pad.

“What if I jump off my roof?”

I froze and finally looked at him. “That’s higher than any of the other surfaces we’ve tested,” I added. “And you’d be landing on concrete, too. An ideal test!”

Dib yelled in excitement, and we set off for his house. Once there, we climbed up onto the roof and looked down. “This is sufficiently high,” I commented.

“Uhhuh,” Dib agreed, a nervous note in his voice.

“This was your idea,” I reminded.

“I know, but maybe we shouldn’t push the limits, you know,” he muttered, not taking his eyes off the ground. “We don’t know how much this fluid can take.”

“And that’s why we’re testing it,” I groaned.

“Get off the roof, Dib!” a voice ordered, and I glanced towards its source to find Gaz down on the ground, shaking her fist at us. 

“Don’t worry!” Dib answered. “We were just about to come down!”

“You’re darn right we are,” I added, shoving Dib off the roof.

Dib screamed all the way down until he hit the ground, a small crater forming around where he landed. I extended the legs from my PAK and steadily climbed down the wall, approaching the crater.

Gaz coughed and came up to me, waving the dust out of her face. “If he’s dead…” she trailed off, clearly threatening me.

“I’m sure he’s fine,” I dismissed with a wave of my hand, retracting the legs from my PAK.

A moment later, another person coughed and gradually climbed out of the crater with a grunt. Dib stood up, covered in dirt and a cut or two. His hair was mussed, but he shouted in victory just the same. “I’m alive! Ow.” He rubbed his shoulder. “Still hurts, but I lived!”

“Excellent!” I exclaimed. “Now we must increase the difficulty of the test!”

“What do you mean ‘increase the difficulty’?” Gas repeated.

“I’m gonna jump off of higher and higher buildings!” Dib exclaimed excitedly.

“You’re not gonna chicken out like you did this time, are you?” I wondered.

Dib shrugged. “Probably not.”

Gaz groaned and rolled her eyes.


	29. Gaz: Overworld Reached

They said that they would throw Dib off of increasingly high buildings, but even after a year of this, I didn’t think it would reach this level. “Why are you doing this again, Zim?” I questioned into my hand-held radio as I watched the sky. And I thought him jumpping off the World Trade Building was bad.

“I’m only participating in this for the satisfaction of pushing Dib off of stuff,” Zim spat.

“Enough talking!” Dib’s voice faintly joined it. “Let’s do this!” 

“You have your oxygen mask, right?” I reminded.

“Of course I do,” Dib said. His voice was louder, so he must be holding their radio now.

“And your goggles?”

“Yes,” he groaned. “What are you, my mom?”

I’m starting to think I am.

“Give me that!” GIR ordered, and there was a commotion on the other end of the line, so the little robot must have ripped it from Dib’s hands.

“AHHHHH!” Dib screamed from the other end. It was a strange mixture of pride, joy, and mortal terror. Zim must have pushed him.

All that was left to do now was wait the few minutes it would take Dib to fall from space and hit the ground. My heart beat a little faster in anticipation. It always did. What if this test was the limit? What if it killed him?  I did my best to shove these thoughts down every time because he always survived. He was a little worse for wear sometimes, but he survived.

Eventually, some faint screaming reached my ears, and I looked up. A tiny black dot was growing steadily larger, and the screaming was gradually getting louder. Must be Dib. I backed up a few feet so I wouldn’t get caught in the large crater he would undoubtedly make.

A minute later, Dib hit the ground, the dirt and grass of the field breaking underneath him. Zim landed his Cruiser and jumped out, coming up to stand next to me. 

There was always this moment of anticipation where we weren’t sure if Dib was killed or just knocked out, so I waited.  After what seemed like years, Dib’s hand emerged out of the rubble. His head picked up over the edge of the crater, and he groaned. “I think I broke something this time.”

I scoffed, crossing my arms. “Dad never gave me cool powers.”

Dib reached into his pocket and pulled something out: a flash drive. “The Gaz Files,” he whispered, as he slowly climbed out of the hole his impact made. “I kept it around in case you ever wondered."

He limped over to me and offered me the drive. I took it from him. It had my name written on it in our dad’s handwriting. My thumb slid over the three letters as I involuntarilly thought back to the day I found him.

“You didn’t break anything,” Zim said, pulling me out of my thoughts. I glanced towards him, and he had some sort of device out, scanning Dib. “You might’ve bruised a few bones, but nothing’s broken.”

“Really?” Dib exclaimed. “Cool.”

* * *

Later that weekend, I plugged Dad’s flash drive about me into my computer. I opened it up, and it seems that they were mostly video files. It looked like a sort of video diary he kept for me. I scrolled past the videos until I got to the documents at the end. I opened them up, and I discovered exactly how Dad had mutated my DNA.

Turns out that all of my powers essentially boiled down to being able to influence the probability of events around me. I could make someone have really good luck or really bad luck. That actually explained a lot about my life, and they were perfect powers for me. I’d rather not be jumping from space to see if I’d live.

* * *

Over the course of the next ten years, Dib and Zim actually worked together. They improved Earth’s planetary defenses as more and more alien races were discovered. Some were a threat to us while others wanted to be allies. Dib worked more on his powers, and he discovered that he also had electric-based powers that allowed him to levitate and become telekinetic. He told me that it was like a dream that Zim made him have about his future once. He tried to explain it, but it didn’t make much sense to me. Zim and Dib seemed to form some sort of strange friendship, but it didn’t look very friendly. Zim still pushed Dib off of roofs and balconies even when they weren’t testing him.

Zim was still under threat of course, but since Dad left Membrane Labs to Dib, he got them to let it go. Dib now wielded the same power and influence as Dad used to, but rather than focusing on improving Earth’s domestic-use technology, he focused on space travel, and Zim worked alongside him. Today, at last, was the first official deep-space flight, and my team and I were to be the test pilots.

I met up with Sam, Jeremy and Ron at the launch sight. The ships still held the basic shape as the fighter jets we used during the Battle for Earth, but there was no denying that they were different. They were larger, and their engines were much different. They had an auto pilot, and had back up power. It now ran on electricity than jet fuel, and it could be recharged solarly. There was a small robot nestled in on one of the wings. Zim and Dib called it the Repair Unit and said that it was similar to a SIR, but Jeremy kept calling it R2.

As the last of our research cargo and rations were loaded into the hold of each of our ships, Jeremy broke the nervous silence between us all. “‘Space: the Final Frontier’,” he quoted. “‘These are the voyages of’ us four gamers. Our ‘five year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations. To boldly go where no’ gamer ‘has gone before.”

Sam mockingly placed a hand to her chest, pretending to be moved. “That was beautiful, Jeremy.”

“I try,” he shrugged, starting towards his assigned ship. 

The rest of us followed him and loaded up. We did a few last minute checks, and Dib’s voice came through the communication line inside my ship. “You guys all set?”

“They better be!” Zim’s voice shouted. “I spent way too long building these things for them to back out.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Shut up, GIR!” Zim ordered.

The four of us had to strain to hide our amusement. “Yeah, we’re good to go,” I informed, trying to keep my voice in check.

“Good,” Dib said, not even acknowledging Zim and GIR’s conversation. “Initiate the start up, and head to the runway."

The four of us did as instructed and made our way there. I ordered Jeremy, Sam and Ron to get into formation as we made it further down. “Time to speed up.”  We all did so, getting faster and faster until we left the ground. We quickly made it to full speed and eventually blasted into space. 

“How was the launch?” Dib wondered.

“Did my G-force compensators work as good as I said?” Zim added.

“It went well,” I said. “We all made it up.”

“That’s good. Now remember that you’re going so deep into space that communications with Earth will be delayed by a few days,” Dib warned.

“Got it.”

“See you in a few years,” Dib sighed.

I hummed in agreement. “You too.”

“Alright!” Sam yelled as we blasted away from Earth. “Let’s go kill some aliens!”

“We’re not going to kill aliens. We’re going to make allies and see what else is out there,” Ron reminded.

“But that’s not to say that we can’t have fun, right?”


	30. Dib: Invaders and Dreams (Come True)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here ya go, guys! The last chapter! Thanks to all who read this story and commented!

Gaz had launched a year ago. HQ has gotten messages every now and then, and we’ve sent more deep space teams out. I knew that alien life would be extensive and complex, but I didn’t know it could be like this. There were planets shaped like cubes and pyramids where it rained sulfuric acid, and its fog was made of crushed diamonds. By Earth’s standards, it was all but impossible, but we got the reports and the photographs nonetheless.

“So what’re you doing today,” Zim wondered casually as he walked up to me in the hall. 

“I got a lecture at the city’s college to try to get more recruits,” I answered.

“Ha!” he laughed. “Good luck getting them to listen to your big head.”

“Hey!” I shouted. “I’ve grown into it!”

“You just keep telling yourself that.”

I shook my head and walked off, leaving Zim to whatever he had to do today. I pulled the keys to my motorcycle out of the pocket of my leather trench coat as I passed the monument the city erected of my dad outside of Membrane Labs--my labs. I glanced up at his giant statue as I waved my hand, levitating my motorcycle the few feet from the parking lot over to me. I straddled the seat and started it up.

In truth, none of this would have been possible without him. If his labs didn’t exist, and he hadn’t already made so many technological advances, I wouldn’t be sending people and ships into deep space. And now we were working our way up to creating battle cruisers and other offensive and defensive ships. We were building an armada.  “Thanks, Dad,” I sighed.

I took off down the road, my trench coat whipping around me, but I didn’t get very far, when Zim flew in front of me. I forced my motorcycle to a sudden stop, barely avoiding hitting him and GIR. He sat on GIR’s back, and the little robot was using his jets to fly, but “Why does he still wear that stupid dog costume?” I questioned.

“I think he likes it,” Zim answered.

“I'm a mongoose,” GIR said, pointing to a label on his chest that said as such.

Zim and I both glanced at him but ultimately ignored him. “Why are you following me?” I wondered.

“You think I’m going to let you lecture alone?” he said. “Those adolescents will not listen to such an inferior being as you. I will use my superior skills to recruit them.”

I rolled my eyes, having gotten used to him doing stuff like this. In truth, I don’t think he likes being alone, since he was always hanging around me now. I used to mind, but not so much anymore.

“Whatever,” I dismissed, resuming my path, with Zim and GIR alongside me.


End file.
